Stress and strategies in coping stress among the medical students of a south Indian city

Abstract

Background: Stress is a personal experience brought on by complex interactions between a person and their environment, so it cannot be avoided. It typically happens when a person’s situational demand exceeds their available resources. Additionally, it has been noted that excessive stress can hurt self-esteem, academic performance, and both personal and professional development. This study sought to determine the stress level, different stressors, and coping mechanisms used by undergraduate medical students. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was done among first to final-year medical undergraduate students between January and June 2022 at a tertiary care institution in South India. 450 students enrolled in the first year to last year were included in the study through the purposeful sampling method. The medical Student Stressor Questionnaire was used to assess the stress levels among the study participants. The coping strategies were considered using a brief coping orientation to problems experienced (COPE) inventory. Cluster analysis used the K-means method. Results: A total of 278 out of the 450 students completed the questionnaire and returned it, yielding an overall response rate of61.78%. Of which 175 (62.95%) women respondents made up the majority of the study participants. The mean age of the participants was 20.15 ± 2.8 years. 45.32% (n = 126) of the study participants belonged to the first year of their study, whereas 23.02% (n = 64) belonged to the second year of their research. Academic stress was the primary stressor. The predominant coping strategies used were problem-focused and emotion-focused coping with stress. Conclusion: A variety of stress management techniques should be offered to help the students in better handling of the demanding professional course.