Differences between stress assessment and stress management among medical students (from various courses)

Abstract

Introduction. Physiological or biological stress is an organism’s response to a stressor such as an environmental condition. Stress is the body’s way of reacting to a condition such as a challenge or physical and psychological barrier. Stimuli that alter an organism’s environment are responded to by multiple systems in the body. Permanent stress to health has many side effects. Therefore stress management techniques significant to relieve stress without damages to health. Aim. To evaluate differences between stress assessment and stress management among various courses of medical students. Methods. An anonymous survey was conducted using the apklausa.lt website and sharing the survey link in Facebook groups for medical students. The questionnaire consisted of four parts: Socio-Demographic questions, a stress assessment scale according to ISMA (International Stress Management Association),[2] a four-factor stress management questionnaire – brief COPE (Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced),[3-4] questions about frequency of symptoms caused by stress.[5] The study included 170 students: I course – 45, II – 40, III – 21, IV – 22, V – 17, VI – 25: 84,1 % (143) women, 15,9 % (27) men. The data were analyzed with the statistical software IBM SPSS statistics 20.0. Data are presented as mean ± SD or percentages. Correlations of quantitative variables were determined using Pearson correlation coefficient. Independent samples were compared using Student’s t, Chi-squared test or Kruskal-Wallis tests depending on normality of data distribution and the number of groups being compared. Significance level p < 0,05. [...].