Prevalence of stress among medical students

Abstract

Background: Stress represents a normal, necessary and unavoidable life phenomenon which can generate temporary discomfort as well as long-term consequences. Objectives: The study was conducted to estimate prevalence, risk factors and coping methods of stress among medical students. Methodology: A Questionnaire based survey was conducted on medical students of Benha university at May 2013 for assessment of socioeconomic status, stress kind and level and the adjustment to college scale. Results: It was found that, the majority of students have stress (87.4%), which varies from mild to moderate (63.8% versus 23.6%). The most common sources of stress were, psychological (32.3%), social (8.5%), financial (4.9%) and medical (3.6%) problems. The academic, social and emotional adjustment levels among students varies between moderate to high (78.6% versus 21.4%), ( 26.8% versus 73.2%) and (77.8% versus 22.2%) respectively. Conclusion: Medical students face social, emotional, and physical problems which may affect their learning ability and academic performance. Some find it hard to cope with the stress and lag behind, while others see the pressure as challenge to work harder.