STRESS

ACROSS SECTIONAL STUDY AT ISLAMIC INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL COLLEGE (IIMC), RAWALPINDI

Abstract

Objectives: To assess different level of stress and reaction to those stressors among undergraduate medical students and
also observe an association between different academic years, if any exists. Design of the study: Cross-sectional study. Settings: Islamic
International medical college- a private medical college in Rawalpindi. Period: From 2006 to 2007. Material & methods: Questionnaire used
was a stress inventory called students life stress inventory. It was distributed to all registered MBBS students at IIMC in years 1- 5 who
voluntarily participated. 403 out of 500 students completed the questionnaire with response rate 81.6%. Results: Data was analyzed through
SPSS by applying different statistical tests, which were ANOVA, and t test. Results reveal that 21.53% students were mildly stressed, 39.12%
students were moderately stressed and 12.64% students were severely stressed. Significant gender differences were found on almost all the
sub-scales. The findings reveal that females face more stressors especially conflicts, emotional and behavioral (p < .01), stress was more
significant between boarders as compare to non-boarders. One Way Analyses of variance (ANOVA) was computed to check the significance
of differences on mean scores. An analysis of variance on Student Life Stress Inventory is significant, F = (3.774), p <.01. Mean difference
indicates that prevalence of stress is higher in first year and final year MBBS students. Conclusion: This study presents pragmatic evidence
regarding the psychological health of students in our college. These findings suggest that high levels of stress exist in our students especially
significant during first and final years of their course. It is important for us to know the prevalence and causes of student stress, which not only
affects their health, but also their academic achievement. Information from this study can be used to develop appropriate intervention programs
for medical students, in order to decrease their stress leve