Introduction

The safe environment provided by the simulation fosters high levels of academic achievement. When it comes to evaluating academic performance and how to improve it, the factors that can influence it are analyzed. The literature is scarce regarding the study of academic performance and sociodemographic factors in simulated teaching with nursing students.

Objective

To determine the association between academic performance in simulated practices in primary level of health and sociodemographic factors of third-year nursing students at a private university in Chile.

Method

Correlational, cross-sectional, descriptive study. The sample was non-probabilistic of 235 students. Sociodemographic data were collected through a structured questionnaire and academic performance was measured by comparing the score of the integrative entrance test and the integrative exit test. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and nonparametric U-Mann Whitney and Kruskall Wallis tests. The level of significance adopted was 5%.

Results

In terms of academic performance, the students after clinical simulation obtained a better score in the exit test than in the entry test, a statistically significant difference (p < 0.001). Regarding the association between academic performance and sociodemographic characteristics, it is observed that only the variables work, and years of study presented a statistically significant relationship before the simulation activities and better academic performance in students who did not work (p < 0.05) and who had 1 to 3 years of study in nursing (p<0.01).

Conclusions

The academic performance of the students increased after the simulation activities. Therefore, it is necessary to consider within the didactic strategies, in the curriculum the simulated practice before attending the clinical field, since it favors the performance of the students.