Abstract
BackgroundMedical students have high levels of stress that could be due to the daily life stressors and the extra stress of academic burden. The present study investigated the perceived stress level as well as the reasons and sources of stress among medical students at a comparatively newly established medical college affiliated with King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (SA).MethodsThe present study was carried out at Rabigh Medical College (RMC), KAU, Jeddah, and completed in 2015. The data was collected by an anonymous self-administered questionnaire that has three components: a list of 33 items of probable stressors, perceived stress scale, and demographic information and academics.ResultsThe response rate in our study was 86% (152/176), the mean age was 20.35 ± 1.09, 77 (51%) were from preclinical years and 75 (49%) from clinical years. The mean PSS score among our participants was 28.5 ± 3.8 with a median of 28.0 (IQR 26.0–31.0) and 59.2% of participants were stressed. The mean PSS score 30.6 ± 4.4 for students with sibling > 5 was significantly higher as compared to the mean PSS score (27.9 ± 3.3) for students with sibling ≤5. Similarly, the mean PSS score (32.0 ± 3.4) of students with often/always occurrence of psychosocial stressors was higher as compared to the mean PSS score (28.3 ± 3.7) of those students with less than a frequent occurrence of stressors. Moreover, those students that were more stressed had lower marks in the last exam (< 80%) as compared to students with less stress who had higher marks (≥80%) (P < .05).Performance in practicals, examinations frequency, disappointment with the class lectures, lack of personal interest in medicine, lengthy academic curriculum/syllabus, worries about the future and periodic examinations performance were rated as severe.The logistic regression analysis showed that stress cases were linked with last exam marks [OR 1.26, 95% CI 0.64–2.48], number of siblings [OR 2.27, 95% CI 0.97–5.27], and academic stressor [OR 2.02, 95% CI 0.61–6.66] but no significant relationship was found.ConclusionThere were high-stress levels among the participants of this study, and the main stressors were academic-related.
Highlights
Medical students have high levels of stress that could be due to the daily life stressors and the extra stress of academic burden
The mean Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) score (32.0 ± 3.4) for students with frequent/always occurrence of psychosocial stressors was higher as compared to the mean PSS score (28.3 ± 3.7) for those students with less than a frequent occurrence of stressors
Frequency of examinations, performance in practicals, unhappiness with the class lectures, less personal interest in medicine, lengthy academic curriculum/syllabus, worrying about the future and periodic examinations performance were rated as common stressors
Summary
Medical students have high levels of stress that could be due to the daily life stressors and the extra stress of academic burden. The medical students have high levels of stress that could be due to the daily life stressors and the extra stress of academic burden, lack of relaxation time, breadth and depth of material to be learned, and repeated formative and summative examinations in a competitive environment [2]. A recent study reported stress (62%) and burnout (75%) among preclinical medical students [3]. Stress and burnout among medical students is a common problem with likely severe personal and professional effects [4]. Numerous studies have reported stress among undergraduate medical students to be 25.6% - 78% [3, 5, 6]
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