Longitudinal studies to evaluate stress in first year medical students through cold pressor response and psychological variables

It is well known that stress and anxiety impair cognitive performance. Stress related anxiety disorders and depression have been reported in undergraduate medical students during the time course of medical education. If the vulnerable students are picked up and diagnosed in the early stages of stress by subjecting them to various physiological and psychological tests, development of stress related anxiety disorders, depression and other psychosomatic illnesses at a later stage could be averted. The study was initiated with these aims and objectives. Medical students comprise a homogenous set of population with similar ethnic, socio-economic background and similar age group. Students who were diagnosed to be suffering from depression, anxiety disorders or undergoing medication for any psychiatric illness were excluded from the study and referred to the Psychiatry department of Government medical college, Chandigarh. Not all the students respond to medical education with the development of stress symptoms and the studies employing variables that are correlates of stress might not prospectively identify the vulnerable students. Stewart et al.1 investigated depression and anxiety in Ist year medical students in a longitudinal study with a gap of eight months between wave one and wave two. However, many of the reported studies are cross sectional. Hence, it was felt desirable to evaluate stress in first year medical students through physiological and psychological variables during longitudinal studies conducted in two phases which are beneficial over cross sectional studies and follow up studies after giving relaxation training to the next batch of students.