Title: A comparative study of stress among students of Dental and Engineering Colleges of Annamalai University
Authors: Dr Bhuvaneswaran D, Dr Asokkumar M, Dr Raja Sigamani K, Dr Antony Jeya Sekar C
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v7i10.114
Abstract
University students are exposed to various level of stress due to ever increasing load of their curriculum that might not match with their academic outcomes. The objectives of the study was undertaken in order to assess the proportion of stress among students of dental and engineering colleges, and the association of stress with various social and health-related factors. Comparative cross sectional Study was conducted over a period of six month in Rajah Muthiah Dental College and Engineering college of Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar and Chidambaram. Self-innovated proforma to elicit the socio demographic data like name, age, sex, education-course studying were obtained. Standard Process Stress Assess (SPSA) - The standard process stress assess scale was used to assess the level of stress among professional students.
Results: Out of the 200 students mild stress was present in 26 students (13%), while 155 (77.5%) had moderate stress and 19 (9.5%) had severe stress. According to the students’ field of education, 68.4% dental students, (31.6%) engineering students had severe stress. In terms of the student residence, 16 students from rural areas (84.2%) had severe tress as compared to 3 from the urban area (15.8%).
Conclusion: high proportion of severe stress was found in dental students, which is independently associated with increased morbidity leading to reduced performance. Early identification and treatment of these will enhance the quality of life through an improvement in biological and behavioural mechanisms related to deterioration of illness.
Keywords: Stress, Standard Process Stress Assess (SPSA).
References
- Bansal CP, Bhave SY. Stress in Adolescents and its Management. In: Bhave SY, Ed. Bhave’s Textbook of Adolescent Medicine. New Delhi: Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers, 2006. Pp.844–53.
- Waghachavare VB, Dhumale GB, Kadam YR, Gore AD. A Study of Stress among Students of Professional Colleges from an Urban area in India. Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal. 2013; 13(3):429- 436.
- Prabu (2014) A study on stress among university students in India.
- Bedewy D, Gabriel A. Examining perceptions of academic stress and its sources among university students: The perception of academic stress scale. Health Psychol Open 2015; 2:2055102915596714.
- Dahan H, Bedos C. A typology of dental students according to their experience of stress: A qualitative study. J Dent Educ 2010; 74:95-103.
- Kiran U, Padma M, Pratap K, Kalyan S, Vineela P, Varma SC. Assessment of psychiatric morbidity among health-care students in a teaching hospital, Telangana state: Across-sectional questionnaire-based study. Indian J Dent Sci 2017;9:105-8
- Rao JV, Chandraiah K. Occupational stress, mental health and coping among information technology professionals. Indian J Occup. Environ Med 2012; 16:22-6.
- Schneiderman N, Ironson G, Siegel SD. Stress and health: Psychological, behavioral, and biological determinants. Annu. Rev Clin Psychol 2005; 1:607-28.
- Farooq SN, Ahmed A, Siddique MN, Khan AA, Seraf AS, Mustufa MA, et al. Incidence and severity of stress among medical undergraduates and their coping abilities. Int J Clin Exp Physiol 2016; 3:10-6.
- Shete AN, Garkal KD. A study of stress, anxiety, and depression among postgraduate medical students. CHRISMED J Health Res2015;2:119-23.
- Sani M, Mahfouz MS, Bani I, Alsomily AH, Alagi D, Alsomily NY, et al. Prevalence of stress among medical students in Jizan University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Gulf Med J 2012; 1:19-25.