Background: Stress is an inevitable part of medical education, and lack of adequate stress-coping skills may affect the students variedly.
Objective: To study the magnitude and causes of stress among first-year medical students of Kurnool Medical College, Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Materials and Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out from May 1, 2015, to June 30, 2015, in Kurnool Medical College and respective hostels, Kurnool. Among 200 students of first-year MBBS, 133 were willing to participate and gave consent. A predesigned, semistructured questionnaire consisting of 28 questions was given to assess their stress levels.
Result: Analysis shows that 78.19% of the respondents experienced stress. Girls (52.88%) perceived greater stress when compared with boys (47.12%); however, the difference did not reach statistical significance. Stress levels more common in the students aged ≤18 years. Poor performance at the examination, large content to be learnt, and lack of time to revise were the major causes of stress among the students.
Conclusion: A substantial proportion of students were found to be stressed, with academic stressors being the major cause of stress among the subjects. An intervention was planned in two sessions, and students were educated on how to handle stress by audiovisual aids, personal interviews, and group discussions.
Key words: Stress, medical students, academic activities
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