Perceived stress and its predictors, stressors and coping strategies among undergraduate pharmacy students in northern Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: Pharmacy education may be associated with stress due to the nature of its curriculum and expectations of high-quality services from students on graduation. This study evaluated perceived stress and its predictors, stressors, and coping strategies among undergraduate pharmacy students in northern Nigeria.Methods: This was a prospective longitudinal study conducted at three randomly selected pharmacy schools in northern Nigeria. The validated 10-item Perceived Stress Scale was used to assess participant stress at the beginning (Time1) and middle (Time2) of the semester. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, a paired sample t-test, point-biserial correlations, and multivariate linear regression at P < .05.Results: The stress scores at Time1 and Time2 of the 866 participants were 18.3 ± 6.0 and 19.3 ± 5.4, respectively. Most participants at both Time1 and Time2 had moderate stress (76.6% and 79.6%, respectively). The multivariate regression analyses revealed gender, marital status, year of study, and access to education funds as significant predictors of stress. Major stressors identified were academic-related (76.3%) and environment-related (24.6%). Time management (69.6%) and relaxation (46.1%) were the major coping strategies.Conclusions: Moderate stress was observed among the majority of participants. Identified predictors of stress, stressors, and coping mechanisms were similar to those previously reported in other countries. Although most pharmacy students adopt positive strategies to mitigate stress, pharmacy educators should further adopt holistic initiatives to help students reduce their stress.