Medical Student Stressor Questionnaire Research Articles

Determining Major Stressors for Students at a Private Medical College in Lahore, Pakistan, Using MSSQ.

Background: Undergraduate medical studies are tough and require long hours of study and thus can lead to significant stress for the students both physically and emotionally. Stress can affect a student’s mental wellbeing and can lead to anxiety, fatigue and depression. Medical undergraduates report a greater level of perceived stress then general population. We need to understand the stressors affecting the health of our students in order to prevent psychological and emotional consequences. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study using the Medical student stressor questionnaire (MSSQ) was designed to determine the different stressors that a medical student deals with during their educational career at the University College of Medicine (UCM) at University of Lahore (UOL). Student participation in this study was voluntary. 1st, 2nd and 3rd year MBBS students of UCM were included in the study. The questionnaire has 20 questions that determine the academic, interpersonal & intrapersonal, teaching and learning, social, drive and desire, and group activities related stressors. The students were further asked to answer questions related to their gender, study routine and physical activity. They were also asked about family and social support available to them. SPSS software version 23 was utilized for data analysis. Results: Data revealed that the 2nd and 3rd year students regard academic related stressors as the most bothersome for them, whereas the desire related stressors were regarded by them as causing mild to moderate stress. The remaining four domains were rated as causing only moderate stress. 1st year students graded the academic related stressors as the cause of most stress for them, while the teaching and learning related stressors, interpersonal related stressors and social related stressors were rated less than it. Drive and desire related stressors were regarded as causing mild stress. When we compared the data from all three years, we found that group activates related stressors were regarded as least stressful by 3rd year students. 3rd year MBBS students rated the intrapersonal & interpersonal stressors, social related stressors, drive and desire related stressors and group activity related stressors at a level that was lower than the 1st & 2nd year MBBS students. Conclusions: Academic related stressors and teaching and learning related stressors were rated as being most stressful by students of all three years. Institutions should take to make the learning environment less stressful for the students as continued stress can adversely affect the health and mental well-being of the students. Keywords: Undergraduate Medical Students, Stress, Medical student stressor questionnaire (MSSQ)

Stress Factors and Depression Levels of International Medical Students in Bulgaria and Turkish Medical Students

Throughout medical education, medical students are reported to experience high levels of stress and depression. The aim of this study was to compare the stress factors and depression levels of medical students in Bulgaria and Turkey. This cross-sectional comparative study included 546 students (276 international students from abroad studying at the Medical University of Sofia in Bulgaria and 270 Turkish medical students). The questionnaire consisted of sociodemographic questions, a Medical Student Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ-40 items), and a Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The Turkish pre-clinical and clinical students had higher levels of stress and depression than the international pre-clinical medical students in Bulgaria. When the medical students were compared, 51.4% of the international medical students in Bulgaria and 28.5% of the Turkish medical students were found to be without depression. Moreover, 26.7% of the Turkish medical students and 12% of the international medical students in Bulgaria had moderate levels of depression. In addition, each domain of the MSSQ had a relationship with depression in both groups of medical students, with the exception of one domain (intrapersonal and interpersonal related stressors), which had no significant relationship with the depression scores of the Turkish clinical students. The findings of our study imply that medical students may need psychological support throughout their education, and this applies especially to Turkish medical students. Knowing the stress factors and depression levels that medical students experience plays an important role in determining the approaches to adopt to them.

Stress, Burnout, and Coping among First-Year Medical Undergraduates.

Background and Objectives Stress, burnout, and coping have been found to be interlinked with each other. Several adverse psychological outcomes have been associated with stress and burnout. Improving coping can decrease the stress and burnout. There is limited literature on perceived stress, coping, and burnout among first-year medical undergraduates from India. With this background, the study aimed to assess perceived stress, coping, and burnout among first-year medical undergraduates. Methods It was a cross-sectional study assessing 100 undergraduates studying in the first year of medical school. Medical Students Stressor Questionnaire, Brief COPE questionnaire, and Maslach burnout inventory–student survey were applied for assessment of perceived stress, burnout, and coping, respectively. Socio-demographic profile was assessed by a semi-structured proforma. Results Majority of students reported facing moderate level of stress in most of the domains, with stress being the highest for the academic aspects and least for social-related and drive- and desire-related areas. The stress was significantly greater in female students. Burnout was identified in 62% students by two-dimensional criteria and 30% by three-dimensional criteria. Among the coping strategies, active coping was most commonly used and substance use was less commonly used. No differences were found in coping between males and females except for active coping, which was significantly better in females. Conclusion The stress was of moderate degree in majority of students and academic stress was the most common stress. Burnout was present in at least one-third of the students. However, majority of the students practiced active coping.

Stress level among the final year medical students at an urban medical college: A cross-sectional study

Introduction and Aim: Stress is a condition which is perceived through environmental threats and events and is initiated by stressors. Globally there is a high prevalence of stress among the medical students which impacts the cognitive and learning ability of medical students and also their mental wellbeing. The present study was conducted to identify the stressors and measure the intensity of the stress among final year medical students at AnurbanMedical College in Chennai.
 
 Methods:This cross-sectional studywas conducted among 250 final year undergraduate medical students between JulyandSeptember 2018. The students were exposed to medical student stressor questionnaire (MSSQ-20), consisting of six domains including academic related stressors (ARS), teaching related stressors (TLRS), intrapersonal and interpersonal development stressors (IRS), social related stressors (SRS), desire related stressors (DRS) and group activities related stressors (GARS).The stress levelswere graded as mild, moderate, high and severe.
 
 Results: Majority of the participantswere females(56%) and the mean age was 22.17± 0.94 years. MSSQ-20 analysis showed that 138 (55%) students perceived severe stress due to ARS and 85(34%) students were prone to high stress as a result of GARS. The mean score was higher for ARS, followed by GARS and the least score was observed in DRS.
 
 Conclusion: Since academics and group activities are the most dominant stressors, there is a need for restructuring the medical education delivery system to enable the medical students acquires knowledge without compromising their health and wellbeing.

The stress level and its effect on learning achievements of health students due to corona pandemic in Indonesia

(1) Background: The development of the Covid-19 (Corona Virus Disease 2019) outbreak has an impact on all sectors including education where teaching and learning processes are carried out online nationwide. Changes in these conditions can cause various levels of stress that affect students’ achievement during the online learning process. (2) Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of stress levels on students’ achievement in various health majors in Indonesia. (3) Methods: The type of research used is quantitative using a cross sectional study design. The sampling technique is simple random sampling, conducted online with a total sample of 200 respondents, in 5 departments of health education institutions in 21 provinces (61.8%) out of 34 provinces in Indonesia. Data were collected using a validated Medical Student Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ) and the Pearson Product Moment correlation analysis method. (4) Results: From the Pearson Product Moment test results, a p-value of 0,000 was obtained, which means p-value

Association between Teaching and Learning Related Stressor and Anxiety Level among Medical Students during COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to various impacts on public health, one of which is the mental health of medical students who are recognized as an at-risk group for developing anxiety disorders due to the teaching and learning system that has changed dramatically. This study aimed to assess the relationship between teaching and learning-related stressor (TLRS) and their anxiety levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subjects and Method: This was a cross-sectional study. The population was medical students at the Faculty of Medicine, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta, Indonesia, during September-October 2021. Sampling was carried out using purposive sampling. The dependent variable was anxiety levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. The independent variable was teaching and learning-related stressor based on Medical Student Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ) instrument. The data were collected through questionnaires and analyzed by Cox proportional regression. Results: A half of medical students experienced anxiety (50.4%), but the data shows a non-significant difference when controlled with other stressor variables (Adjusted PR= 1.485; 95% CI= 0.71 to 2.97; p= 0.300). Conclusion: There is no significant relationship between sociodemographic and anxiety level among Medical Students during COVID-19 pandemic. Keywords: mental health, anxiety, stressor, COVID-19, medical students Correspondence: Helda. Department of Epidemiology, Faculty of Public Health Universitas Indonesia. A Building 1st Floor Kampus Baru UI Depok 16424. E-mail: heldanazar1@gmail.com. Phone: +6285216688437 Journal of Health Promotion and Behavior (2021), 06(04): 263-271 DOI: https://doi.org/10.26911/thejhpb.2021.06.04.01

Assessment of Stress, Resilience, and Coping Style among Medical Students and Effectiveness of Intervention Programs on Stress Level in South India: A Non-randomized Control Trial.

Background:Uncontrolled stress can be made at ease through resilient emotions and higher coping skills. The study aimed at assessing the level of stress, resilience, and coping among medical students and to study the effect of stress intervention programs on the stress level.Materials and Methods:This was a nonrandomized control trial among 526 medical students which used medical student stress questionnaire, and perceive stress scale (PSS), resilience assessment using a 25-item resilience scale, and coping using a modified Pareekh scale. After the completion of the preintervention assessment, the students were assigned nonrandomly into two groups (intervention group n = 272 vs. nonintervention group n = 254), and the stress intervention programs were done for one group without any programs for the other group.Results:The study concluded that 246 (46.8%), 274 (52.1%), and 277 (52.7%) showed higher stress higher resilience and lower coping, respectively. The study showed that, with stress intervention programs, stress levels by PSS got significantly reduced by 2.64 scores.Conclusions:The study showed the presence of higher stress and resilience and lower coping among medical students. The inclusion of programs to reduce the stress among students showed a positive result and can be replicated.

Influence of Stress on Quality of Sleep and QT Interval Variables among Young Adult Medical Students- A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Stress affects different cardiovascular responses and trigger arrhythmias through Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) activation. Medical students generally tend to reduce their sleep, in order to adjust and cope with their stressful and demanding workload. Aim: To assess the correlation of QT intervals variables with quality of sleep and stress among young adult medical students. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was undertaken in All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Mangalagiri, Andhra Pradesh, India, among 60 medical students taken as internal match for collection of data at the beginning of the academic year (unstressed) and three weeks before the term-end examination (stressed) during October 2019 to March 2020. Two validated questionnaires namely, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) to assess sleep quality and the Medical Student Stress Questionnaire (MSSQ) to measure the stressors and the intensity of stress were used among the medical students. Short-term Electrocardiogram (ECG) recording was used to measure QT interval variables. Descriptive statistics and paired t-test were applied using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 19.0. The p≤0.05 was considered significant. Results: Academic Related Stress (ARS) showed a highly significant increase during the stressed conditions (p<0.001). The mean global PSQI score of 6.03±2.76 was significantly higher (p-value <0.001; PSQI >5) during the stressed conditions indicating poor quality of sleep, when compared to 4.50±2.87 recorded in unstressed conditions. In stressed conditions, QT interval measures had moderate correlation with ARS. Quality of sleep had negative correlations with all QT interval measures except for corrected QT interval (QTc) and QTCmin. Conclusion: Stress affects the sleep quality and induced QT changes which reflected difference in variability between ‘stressed’ and ‘unstressed’ times. However, there is no significant impact on QT duration among the young adult medical students.

A comparative study of mental health of medical students in two countries

Results from many studies indicate that throughout medical education students experience high levels of stress and depression. The aim of the current study was to assess and compare Bulgarian and Turkish medical students' levels of stress and depression. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 546 students (276 foreign students from Medical University – Sofia and 270 medical students from several medical universities in Ankara). The study instrument included basic socio-demographic questions, Medical Student Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ-40 items) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Turkish medical students showed higher levels of stress and depression than foreign students from Bulgaria. We found that all types of stressors in medical students had a relationship with depression. Results of our study imply that medical students need access to psychological support throughout their education.

A cross-sectional survey of stressors and coping strategies among the first-year medical students in Kerala

Introduction: Compared to the general population medical students have to face more stress, which, if not handled properly, may negatively affect the career of future doctors and community health drastically. To counter this stress, they need appropriate coping strategies. Studies on stress and coping strategies among medical students in India are very few to date and show wide demographic variations in their results. Materials and Methods: We carried out a cross-sectional survey to find out stressors using a validated Medical Students’ Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ) and we used Brief COPE scale to assess the coping strategies adopted by the first-year medical students in Kerala. Descriptive statistics was used to compile and summarize data. Result: Most common stress inducer was found to be ‘academic related stressor’ domain, in which we observed that 88% students had moderate to high level of stress. In this domain, more common stressors were ‘examinations’ and ‘large amount of content to be learnt’. ‘Planning’ was ranked first with mean score (SD) of 5.72 (1.42), while ‘substance use’, 2.07 (0.45) was least adopted coping method by them. Conclusion: Academic stressors were found to be the most common stressor domain in first-year medical students. Timely reduction of such stress using various measures is expected from the educators. Maximum students employed constructive coping strategy i.e. ‘planning’ but maladaptive ‘self-distraction’ coping was also seen in substantial number of students who can be helped by guiding them for proper coping methods. Keywords: Brief COPE, Coping strategy, MSSQ, Stressor.

Preliminary Study Using Medical Student Stressor Questionnaire in Faculty of Medicine Pelita Harapan University

<p><strong>Background: </strong>Best teaching program for students is certainly the main focus of the faculty. However, we must consider from the student perspective, cause student in Faculty of Medicine is high risk of being stress. Prolonged stress could harm the student physically and or mentally and will disrupt the competencies achievement. One of the validated tools for identifying a group of stressors is Medical Student Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A cross-sectional univariate done within 30 medical students batch 2016. Age around 16-18 years old consist of 8 male and 21 female.</p><p><strong>Result: </strong>The highest stressor facing by the student was interpersonal related stressors (IRS) mean 2.547, followed by teaching and learning-related stressors (TLRS) 2.485, academic related stressors (ARS) 2.304, group activities related stressors (GARS) 2.259, drive and desire related stressors (DRS) 2.195, and social related stressors (SRS) 2.173.</p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>All the stressors domains were in a high level of stress. Further research needed in larger population and level of the study.

STRESS ASSESSMENT IN MBBS FIRST YEAR STUDENTS BEFORE AND AFTER STRESS MANAGEMENT TRAINING DURING COVID-19 LOCKDOWN: A NORTH INDIAN STUDY.

Introduction: Stress is a well known contributor of many diseases. Corona virus infection pandemic has added stress in everyone’s life. Medical students have been reported to feel more depressed, anxious and stressed due to numerous factors in previous research. There has been lot of stress due to shutdown of colleges and modification of teaching pattern.
 Material and method: This study was planned to estimate the stress in First year MBBS students of SHKM GMC Nalhar, Nuh, Mewat, Haryana, India to explore the stress prevalence and factors causing stress in the students. Then a stress management training was given to the students. After one month the analysis was repeated to assess the feedback, which fell into the lockdown period observed during COVID-19 pandemic. Medical Student Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ) was used to assess stress.
 Results and observation: The stress was found to be mild in 43 (35 %), moderate in 66 (55%), high in 11 (9%) among students.(Figure 1 A) After one month, the stress reported was mild in 67 (55.83%), moderate in 41 (34.17%), high in 12 (10%).(Figure 1 B) Stress was reported by 64.35% male students on first instance while 47.52% on second. Female students also displayed a fall in stress from 63.15% to 26.31%.
 Conclusion: Stress was detected in more than fifty percent First professional medical students in SHKM GMC Mewat, Haryana, which was reduced after stress management training. It is proposed that stress management training should be given in MBBS first professional and during pandemic like Coronavirus infection.

A cross sectional study of sources and severity of stress in first year undergraduates in a medical college of Shivamogga

Nowadays a lot of awareness about stress and its effects on mental health is being spread among people. We being medical fraternity should think about stress our undergraduates are going through. Medical education being the toughest academics puts the students in stress. So this study was designed with following objectives: 1. To explore the sources and level of stress in first MBBS students 2. To compare the levels of stress in different groups. The study was conducted in Subbaiah institute of medical sciences, Shivamogga in April 2019. We included 150 first year medical students (2018-19 batch) of both the sexes after getting approval from institutional ethical clearance committee. We used pre formed questionnaire which had demographical details and MSSQ (medical student stress questionnaire) questions.statistical analysis was done using independent student t test. Mean ± SD was calculated.academic related stressor (ARS) was higher than all other stressors. Females had more ARS. Urban background students had more ARS compared to rural background students. We found moderate stress in ARS.ARS is the major stressor perceived, hence measures should be taken to decrease the burden of academic stress in the students.

Validating the Medical Students' Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ) from a Sri Lankan medical faculty

ObjectivesThe Medical Students' Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ) is a specific tool to assess the degree of stress in medical students. However, this tool has not been validated in Sri Lanka. Therefore, this study contextually adapted the MSSQ and investigated its validity in the local context. MethodsA total of 603 medical students, in various phases of their undergraduate training, from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Colombo, participated in the study. Students who have completed their studies in the faculty for at least six months were included. The self-administered questionnaire was contextually adapted to the local setting and was approved by subject and language experts. Responses were analysed for construct validity (including exploratory factor analysis to estimate factor structure of the scale), sample adequacy, and internal consistency. Data were analysed using the SPSS statistical package. ResultsThe mean age of the study cohort was 23.3 ± SD 2.0 years, while 258 (42.8%) were males. The MSSQ scale significantly correlated with the General Health Questionnaire (p<0.001), indicating a strong concurrent validity. The exploratory factor analysis showed that items were loaded appropriately on five new factors, and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure (0.954) and Bartlett's test of sphericity (p<0.001) showed excellent sample adequacy. The internal consistency of the MSSQ overall (α = 0.95), and each of the new factors: (α > 0.82 for the first four factors and α = 0.54 for the fifth) were satisfactory. The test-retest reliability was high (Pearson's r = 0.918, p<0.001). ConclusionsThe contextually adapted MSSQ is a valid and reliable instrument that can be used in the assessment of stress among medical students.

Psychometric validation and cultural adaptation of the Italian medical student stressor questionnaire

Medical students encounter specific stressors that can lead to higher levels of psychological distress compared to their similar aged counterparts who study other subjects. The Medical Student Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ) was developed to specifically identify stressors among medical students as well as measure the intensity of stress caused by the stressors. However, no Italian version has been validated to date. The aim of this study was to develop an Italian version of the MSSQ (MSSQ-I) and to assess its psychometric properties. The MSSQ has been translated and culturally validated into Italian. All medical students from the University of Brescia were asked to participate in a web-survey in which they were asked to complete the MSSQ-I. For the analysis of the stability over time, participating students were asked to complete again the MSSQ-I after about one month. Among 1754 medical students, 964 completed the MSSQ-I for the validation analyses. A first Confirmatory Factor Analysis and a subsequent Explanatory Factor Analysis outlined a slightly modified factor structure of the scale with five factors instead of six as in the original scale. The internal consistency on the overall scale was high (α = 0.94), as well as the internal consistency of each of the new factors: (α > 0.83 for the first four factors and α = 0.67 for the fifth). External validity analysis confirmed moderate/high concurrent validity. These results suggest that the MSSQ-I can be used as a tool to identify stressors among Italian medical students, although further research is needed to confirm its individual test-retest reliability.

STRESS, STRESSORS, AND COPING STRATEGIES BETWEEN PRE-CLINICAL AND CLINICAL MEDICAL STUDENTS AT UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN

Stress in medical education has been inevitable among medical students. However, the prevalence of stress among pre-clinical and clinical medical students differed by year of study. There were several stressors reported to affect medical students. Therefore, effective coping strategies were applied to manage the stress faced by medical students. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of stress, stressors and coping strategies comparing pre-clinical and clinical Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) medical students, and the associated stressors and stress among them. This was a cross-sectional study with a study population of 223 medical students. Universal sampling was used. A self-administered questionnaire which included socio-demographic characteristics, the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), the Medical Students Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ) and the Brief COPE Inventory were used in this study. The overall prevalence of stress among medical students was 48.15%. Clinical students had a higher prevalence of stress (53.73%) compared to pre-clinical students (39.02%). Year 3 students had the highest prevalence of stress (64.58%) compared to other years of study. Nearly 1 out of 2 medical students were stressed (48.15%). Academic Related Stressor ranked the highest and Acceptance was the most practiced coping strategy. The only associated stressor with stress was Academic Related Stressor.

Investigating Stress and Sources of Stress Among Female Health Profession Students in a Saudi University.

BackgroundHealth profession students experience tremendous levels of stress throughout their education. A high level of stress may have a negative effect on the cognitive functioning and learning of students.ObjectiveThe study sought to determine the levels and main sources of stress and its possible correlation with academic performance in the preclinical female health profession.MethodsThe cross-sectional design involved the use of self-administered questionnaires. Data were collected from 260 students in health profession programmes in Saudi Arabia. The Medical Student Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ) was used to collect the data from all second-, third-, and fourth-year undergraduate students.ResultsA high level of stress was observed in 42.7% of the students, and a moderate stress level was observed in 41.5% of the students. The major source of stress experienced by students was related to the academic domain (mean= 2.7±0.73), followed by the group activity domain (mean= 2.1±0.91; p< 0.05). Second-year and third-year students were significantly less likely to show high stress levels compared with fourth-year students (AOR= 0.3; 95% CI: 0.1–0.8; p≤ 0.030 and AOR= 0.4; 95% CI: 0.1–0.5; p≤ 0.001, respectively). High stress levels were not found to be associated with students’ age and academic performance.ConclusionHalf of the students experienced high and severe levels of stress. Academic and group activity domains were perceived as the major stressors. The year of study was the only significant factor associated with stress levels. Stress among female health profession students should be acknowledged, and efforts should be made to alleviate it. Students should be guided to reduce their stress levels, as this can enhance their quality of life and study experience.

Sources and Severity of Stress in Various Domains among First Year Medical Students and its Relationship with their Academic Performance: A Cross Sectional Study

Background: First year medical students are the most vulnerable group to experience stress in their newenvironment in the field of medicine. The present study evaluated perceived stress among them along withits correlation with academic performance.Method: An Indian adaptation of the Medical Student Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ) was used to determinethe effect of stress on the academic performance of students. Responses were correlated with their respective1st professional exam marks.Results: Stress due to examinations was reported by 24.5% students and due to excess syllabus by 33%.Some students (11.8%) experienced severe stress due to relationship issues, due to unjustified gradingprocess (10.4%) and health issues. Females had more academic and group activity related stress as comparedto males. The students who participated in sports or cultural societies had higher Drive and Desire relatedstress levels in contrast to the non-participants. The interpersonal & intrapersonal relatedstress (IRS score)of students was negatively correlated with their academic performance. The increased stress among femaleparticipants was related to an improved academic performance in them.Conclusions: Too much stress negatively interfered with student’s preparation, concentration andperformance while positive stress helped student achieve peak performance.

Stressors among medical college undergraduates

Background: Medical colleges are accountable for training medical students to have sound knowledge and ability before they take up the professional responsibilities. Therefore, medical colleges typically use a curriculum of orations, simulations supervised practice, mentoring, and hands-on experience to enhance undergraduate's skill. In such a process unfortunately few areas of the training process have unintentional negative effects on student's physical and mental health. Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study is to assess stressors among medical undergraduate students. The objectives of this study are i. To compare stressors among government medical college. Undergraduates and private medical college undergraduates. ii. To compare stressors among gender. iii. To compare stressors among various years of study. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study consisted a sample size of 1568 participants who are undergraduate students from various medical colleges across India. The samples were drawn using convenience sampling method. The Medical Student Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ) was the tool used to collect data for this study. Results: Academic Related Stressors (Mean score = 2.156) was higher in medical college undergraduates followed by teaching and learning related stressors, group activities related stressor, Interpersonal and intrapersonal related stressors, social related stressors and Drive and desire related stressors with mean scores of 1.711, 1707, 1.599, 1.385 and 1.243 respectively. Conclusions: Academic stress was the most broadly source of stress found and thus most often contributed to overall stress scores. Females show more stress as compared to males. Private medical college undergraduates had more medical stress compared to government medical undergraduates. Final year undergraduates had more medical stress followed by first year. This needs attention towards curriculum change process in medical education.

Stress, its determinants and its association with academic performance among the students of a medical college in Kerala

Introduction: Medical education is one of the most stressful academic curricula worldwide, negatively affecting the health of medical students. Stress in medical students if not tackled in time, can have professional ramifications, as well as personal consequences. Hence, in this background, this study was undertaken to find out the prevalence of stress among medical students, its determinants and its association with academic performance. Material and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study done at a medical college, Wayanad district, between January and June 2019. All the undergraduate medical students of the college were the study subjects. Data were collected using a predesigned and pretested self-administered questionnaire, the first part of which had questions pertaining to basic sociodemographic details, factors affecting stress, and their academic performance, and the second part was the Medical Student Stress Questionnaire. Completed responses were obtained from a total of 605 students. Results: About 29.8%, 53.6%, 16.7% and 0% were found to have no/mild stress, moderate stress, high stress and severe stress respectively. The prevalence of moderate/high stress was more among 25–26 years, males, married, Phase I MBBS, government quota, Muslim, urban origin, and day scholar students. However, only religion and place of origin were found to have a significant association (P = Conclusion: The prevalence of stress among the participants was low. Muslim religion and urban origin were found to have a significant association with the prevalence of moderate/high stress. There was a very weak positive correlation between the percentage of marks obtained and total stress scores.