Search for a command to run...
Background: Visual–spatial ability (VSA) is important for learning and performance across healthcare professions and has been associated with anatomy performance, although findings are inconsistent. Anatomy education may also improve VSA. No known study has used predictive modeling to examine VSA and related psychological and personal factors in Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students enrolled in a full-body cadaver dissection anatomy course. This study examined whether VSA, anxiety, depression, resilience, and selected personal factors predicted academic performance and whether VSA and psychological variables changed over the course. Methods: This pre–post educational cohort study used a convenience sample of first-year DPT students enrolled in a 16-week neuromusculoskeletal anatomy course incorporating full-body human cadaver dissection at a single United States university. Participants completed pre- and post-course measures of VSA using the Mental Rotations Test (MRT), anxiety using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale (GAD-7), depression using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and resilience using the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS). Demographic, educational, and personal variables were also collected. Three weeks after the course, participants completed an anatomy-specific visual–spatial examination. Paired t-tests with Holm correction and Cohen’s d were used to assess pre-post changes. Predictors of academic performance were identified using least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression with 10-fold cross-validation, followed by multiple linear regression. Results: Thirty-two of 60 eligible students completed all phases of the study. MRT scores increased significantly from 11.72 (SD 4.03) to 15.69 (SD 4.39) (p < 0.001, d = 0.938). PHQ-9 scores also increased significantly from 2.97 (SD 3.05) to 5.72 (SD 5.27) (p = 0.009, d = 0.603), whereas changes in GAD-7 and BRS scores were not significant. The final regression model explained 46.2% of the variance in average exam score (adjusted R² = 0.305; p = 0.023). Higher baseline depressive symptoms and lower baseline anxiety were significant predictors of higher average exam score, whereas baseline MRT score was not independently significant. Conclusions: Among first-year DPT students enrolled in a full-body dissection anatomy course, VSA improved significantly, while depressive symptoms also increased. Academic performance was moderately predicted by a multivariable model in which psychological factors appeared more influential than baseline VSA alone. These findings support a multidimensional view of anatomy success in DPT education.