Background: Every student faces stress after their admission to higher educational institutes. The examination process is one major form of an unpredictable type of academic stressor.
Aims and Objectives: The objectives of the study are as follows: (1) To measure the baseline cardiorespiratory parameters: Systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), pulse rate (PR) and respiratory rate (RR), and pre-examination readings to evaluate the effect of stress on all the above and (2) to compare their values among all the students and different gender also.
Materials and Methods: In our study, 146 MBBS first phase students, age group of 18–20 years, had participated. After written consent, their anthropometric parameters and cardiorespiratory parameters – baseline and pre-examination readings were measured and data were analyzed statistically.
Results: In the male students, the SBP (P < 0.05), DBP and RR both (P < 0.001) were found to increase statistically significantly, while DBP and RR was found to increase significantly in female students (P < 0.001). PR was observed to increase statistically not significantly (P > 0.05).
Conclusion: Academic stress affected most of the cardio-respiratory parameters in our students. Thus, we suggest the need of continuous academic and psychological support in the form of counseling sessions to overcome the stress.
Key words: Examination Stress; Systolic Blood Pressure; Diastolic Blood Pressure; Respiratory Rate; Pulse Rate; Medical Students
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