Ramadan Fasting: Effect on Anxiety Using The DASS-42 Scoring System

Abstract

Introduction: Ramadan fasting affects dietary propensity and mental health. As part of their courses, medical students encounter stressors such as examinations, college assignments, and others that can impact their mental health and contribute to conditions such as anxiety. Limited research has been conducted to date on the impact of Ramadan fasting on anxiety scores among college students. This study aimed to explore the impact of Ramadan fasting on anxiety using DASS-42 scoring system. Methods: A prospective cohort analytic study was conducted with a cross-sectional approach and a one-group pretest-posttest design. A total of 242 medical students were sampled and selected by consecutive sampling. The DASS-42 questionnaire was used to evaluate the respondents’ anxiety scores. Results: We found 99 respondents were experiencing anxiety while 143 were normal. The findings revealed that the anxiety scores fell during the pre- to post-Ramadan period for all respondents (p = 0.003), the respondents who had anxiety (p = 0,000), and the normal respondents (p = 0.001). Conclusion: The current study reports that Ramadan fasting was proven to reduce the anxiety scores of all students including those who experienced anxiety and normal subjects.