Seema Daud, Rayyan Zakir Shaikh, Munazza Ahmad, Zain-ul hassan Awan.
Stress in Medical Students.
Pak J Med Health Sci Jan ;8(3):503-7.

Aim: To assess the level of stress and its pre-disposing factors in medical students. Study Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study. Place of Study: Lahore Medical & Dental College (LMDC), Lahore. Duration of Study: Four weeks in May, 2014. Methods: The Student Stress Scale (SSS) was administered among 342 MBBS students in all five years, by using convenience sampling. Additional information on gender, age and year of study were obtained using a structured questionnaire. Data was managed in SPSS 20. Kruskal-Wallis and Chi square tests were used to analyze associations. The p value ≤0.05 was used as the cut off point for statistical significance. Results: Among the study participants, 58% were female, 53% were either 22 years of age or older, 23% were from 1st year, 12% were from 2nd year, 17% were from 3rd year, 26% were from 4th year and 22% were from final year. Stress was present in all students, 29% had mild, 43% had moderate and 28% had severe stress. Moderate to severe stress was more common in age group 18-21 years (76%) and first year students (82%). The top academic stressor was serious argument with instructor (100%), the main social stressor was death of a close family member (97%) and the significant personal stressor was sex problems (100%). Conclusion: Medical students are under considerable stress. Interventions are needed to tackle stress and improve their physical and psychological well-being. Recommendations: Early diagnosis, case finding and effective psychological services may possibly prevent and control future stress in medical students.

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