Stress and academic performance among medical students.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship of stress and academic performance in first year medical students and to identify sources of stress, levels of stress and relevant coping strategies. STUDY DESIGN: Mixed method sequential. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Allama Iqbal Medical College, Lahore, from March to December 2010. METHODOLOGY: Survey questionnaire and in-depth interviews were carried out in the first year students with their consent. Two hundred and fifty students were surveyed, out of whom 120 students responded. Twelve students with their consent were interviewed. Non-probability purposive sampling was employed for both types of data collection. SPSS version 20 was used. The qualitative data generated through structured in-depth interviews, were analyzed by content analysis. RESULTS: Low level of stress was found in 7.5% (score ‹150), moderate level of stress was present in 71.67% (score between 150 and 300), and high level of stress was observed in 20.83% (score ›300) of the students. There is moderate negative (-0.583) and significant (p < 0.01) correlation between academic performance and sources of stress. Similarly there is moderate negative (-0.478) and significant (p < 0.01) correlation between academic performance and levels of stress. There was strong positive (0.799) and significant (p < 0.01), correlation between stress level and number of stress sources. CONCLUSION: The study showed a diversity of stress sources and a high level of stress in the medical students. The results also show that higher level of stress is associated with poor academic performance.