An Assessment of The Stress Levels of Students Entering Medical School in Indonesia

Abstract

Introduction: Many studies have reported that distress and related psychological health problems are higher among medical students compare to the general population. There have been no studies in Indonesia that have assess the stress level of medical students entering medical schools and longitudinally. The new admission system entering university has been implemented in the country since 2013 is through school matching program with the admission criteria based on high school performance as an addition to the existing admission examination test. The government gives full scholarship for students with low socio economic status. The programs affect on demographic characteristic of new students with substantial proportion of students from rural and low socioeconomic status. The students from rural and low socioeconomic status may feel isolated, which may lead to stress. Purpose: This study assesses baseline stress levels of students entering medical schools. Method: A cross sectional survey was conducted on 2013 intake of new medical students. We recruited 263 participants between September and October 2013 during the first two months of their university life. Level of distress was measured using an Indonesian version of the WHO General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ12). Results: Of 263 students, 52.2% were classified as being at risk of stress and 14.8% were classified as “stressed”. There were no significant difference in level of stress between male and female students and those students with different socioeconomic status and geographic category (p>0.05). However, students from lower socioeconomic background and those from rural regions reported slightly higher levels of stress, though this difference was not significant (p>0.05). Students who obtained specific government scholarship due to low socioeconomic status were significantly higher of stress level (p<0.05). Conclusion: The study shows that new medical students had high levels of stress compare to the general public as measured by GHQ-12. Follow up study is planned to assess the effect of stress longitudinally in relation to academic performance.