Abstract
IntroductionCOVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant changes in pedagogy for undergraduate medical curriculum. Many physical clinical teachings have been replaced by online pedagogy. This study aims to evaluate the relation between medical students’ stress during COVID-19 pandemic and their academic performance at the final examination. MethodsThis is a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study. Student's stress level were evaluated by the COVID-19 Student Stress Questionnaire (CSSQ). Correlation of stress level and students' performance at the final examination was performed. Results110 out of 221 (49.8%) final-year medical students responded to the questionnaire, 13 students failed in the final examination (case) while 97 students passed in the final MBBS examination (control).Baseline demographic data between case and control were comparable. The median age for both cases and controls were 24 years.Compared to controls, cases reported higher levels of stress in all domains, namely in relation to risk of contagion, social isolation, interpersonal relationships with relatives, university colleagues and professors, academic life, and sexual life. Notably, a significantly higher proportion of cases reported academic-related stress compared to controls (p < 0.01), with 100% of cases perceiving their academic studying experience during the COVID-19 pandemic to be “very” or “extremely” stressful, compared to 35.1% of controls. ConclusionIncreased stress to academic and study during COVID-19 was associated with worse examination outcome at the final examination. Extra academic support will be needed to cater students’ need during the pandemic.
Highlights
COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant changes in pedagogy for undergraduate medical curriculum
One study conducted on medical students in the United Kingdom (UK) using a self-perceived stress scale found that 54.5% of participants had moderate to extreme stress levels
This study aims to evaluate the psychosocial stressors and stress levels of final year undergraduate medical students from a Medical School in Hong Kong during COVID-19 in which teaching was conducted online
Summary
COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant changes in pedagogy for undergraduate medical curriculum. This study aims to evaluate the relation between medical students’ stress during COVID-19 pandemic and their academic performance at the final examination. The “COVID-19 generation” of medical students have had to adapt from a primarily practice-based education format to distance learning, and as a result, may have missed out on educational experiences that were previously considered crucial [2]. This significant burden on medical students’ psychological well-being and stress may be further linked to their academic performance. In another study conducted across 3 medical schools in Western China, 82.3% of the 361 medical students surveyed had moderate to high levels of reported stress [3]
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