Effect of stress on academic performance in medical students – a cross sectional study.
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Date
2014-01
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Abstract
Introduction- Stress, a universal phenomenon, affects an individual’s productivity either by increasing it
(‘eustress’) or decreasing it (‘distress’). It is widely acknowledged that the medical fraternity is predisposed
to enormous stress. The same may be true for the budding medicos- the undergraduate medical students.
In our study we attempted to identify situations that predisposed the medical students to stress and their
effects on academic performance and to suggest certain coping mechanisms. Objectives- firstly to explore
common sources of stress in medical students, secondly to establish correlation of stress, gender, attendance,
and academic performance if any. Method- 114 medical undergraduates were assessed for the common
sources of stress and the level of stress using semi structured Performa and stress scale. The results were
compared and correlated with various variables like attendance, demographic factors, average marks etc.
Pearson correlation coefficient was used for statistical correlation amongst different variables. Results &
Conclusions- Stress shows beneficial effects in females when compared to males. High attendance and
better day to day performance in female medical students was associated with more amount of stress when
compared to male students. Thus, stress among medical students should be acknowledged and attempts
should be made to alleviate it.
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Kumar Mukesh,Sharma Sachin, Gupta Surbhi, Vaish Supriya , Misra Rajesh. Effect of stress on academic performance in medical students – a cross sectional study. Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology. 2014 Jan-Mar; 58(1): 81-86.