Assessment of Perceived Stress and Stress Predictors Among Dental Students: An Institutional- Based Study
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Date
2023-10-26
Authors
Ranjana Garg
Priyadarshini HR
Jing Yu Lee
Kevin Chee Pheng Neo
Mei Kei Leong
Joshua Kim Chwen Ting
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Chitkara University Publications
Abstract
Background: Stress is one of the most prevalent psychological conditions globally. However, healthcare students are at an increased risk of psy-chological distress as compared to the normal population. Medical/Dental training is considered a stressful experience for students as they face a wide range of challenges related to their lengthy curriculums, patient care, and pursuit of academic excellence.
Purpose: To assess the prevalence of perceived stress levels and associ-ated risk factors among undergraduate dental students
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 230 under-graduate dental students to assess their perceived stress using the Modi-fied version of the Dental Environment Stress questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS 22. Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were used. P<0.05 was considered significant.
Results: Most dental students reported mild stress related to most of the academic and clinical components in the questionnaire. However, a higher percentage of pre-clinical students reported moderate and severe stress (37.5% & 14.1% respectively) as compared to clinical year students (6.8% and 1.5% respectively) with p>0.05. The major risk factors causing stress were competitiveness among peers, the pressure of the assessments, and the inability to balance the clinical and academic workload.
Conclusion: Undergraduate dental students were found to be under stress due to a range of factors. The faculties need to identify and alleviate such stress among students through support systems.
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Keywords
Dental students, Perceived stress, Stress predictors, Dental education