Abstract

Background and Aims: Stress is the body’s response to any intrinsic or extrinsic factor that stimulates biological response. Cognitive abilities such as learning and memory are affected by levels of stress. This research aimed to study the prevalence of stress among students of the college of medicine, Majmaah University, Saudi Arabia, and determine the relationship between stress and social factors, academic performance, and lifestyle.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out between May 2019 and October 2020. Simple random sampling was used and the sample size was 230. A pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect the data. Descriptive studies were done by Pearson Chi-square and Fisher Exact tests. All data were tabulated and analyzed using the IBM SPSS version 24 program.

Results: Students with low, moderate, and severe stress were 9 (3.9%), 176 (76.5%), and 45 (19.6%) respectively. 24 (14.8%) and 21 (30.9%) of male and female students had a severe level of stress (p=0.02). The students in the pre-clinical phase had more levels of stress than the students in the clinical phase of their study (21.4% vs 13.5%, p=0.002).

Conclusion: the majority of students at the College of Medicine, Majmaah University have moderate stress. The level of stress is related to gender; female students have a more severe level of stress than male students. Severe stress is more prevalent in pre-clinical students compared to students in the clinical phase of the study. The study shows no relationship between stress and the academic performance of the students.

Key words: Stress, Psychological impact, medical students, Saudi Arabia