[Use of the short (5-item) version of the WHO well-being questionnaire in first year students of Semmelweis University].

INTRODUCTION: Studies on well-being of students in higher education are in the centre of international research interest, because adult health as a value plays an important role in the life of future generation.

AIM: The authors studied variables that affect the value of well-being (satisfaction with life, student success, satisfaction with academic infrastructure, sports and financial situation of parents) among medical and health science students starting their studies.

METHOD: The Hungarian version of the Word Health Organization WBI-5 (General Well-Being Index, 5-item version) were used. This questionnaire has a high internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha: 0.778).

RESULTS: The unrotated principal component analysis of the questionnaire survey confirmed the homogeneity of the database utility (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin-index = 0.748; Bartlett test<0.0001). On the basis of stepwise linear regression (R = 0.458, R(2) = 0.21, F = 16.33, p = 0.001, VIF values around 1) showed (i) a positive relationship with explanatory variables such as faculty and sport activity, satisfaction with life scale and university infrastructure, and (ii) a negative relationship with gender and parental substance.

CONCLUSION: The authors conclude that short Well-Being Index is a reliable and valid instrument to measure positive quality of life of medical students. Furthermore, the Well-Being Index can help university faculties and lecturers to deploy the student facilities and to eliminate the harm of stress situations. Orv. Hetil., 2016, 157(44), 1762-1768.