Stress Assessment in MBBS First Year Students Before and After Stress Management Training During Covid-19 Lockdown: A North Indian Study.

Introduction: Stress is a well known contributor of many diseases. Corona virus infection pandemic has added stress in everyone’s life. Medical students have been reported to feel more depressed, anxious and stressed due to numerous factors in previous research. There has been lot of stress due to shutdown of colleges and modification of teaching pattern. Material and method: This study was planned to estimate the stress in First year MBBS students of SHKM GMC Nalhar, Nuh, Mewat, Haryana, India to explore the stress prevalence and factors causing stress in the students. Then a stress management training was given to the students. After one month the analysis was repeated to assess the feedback, which fell into the lockdown period observed during COVID-19 pandemic. Medical Student Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ) was used to assess stress. Results and observation: The stress was found to be mild in 43 (35 %), moderate in 66 (55%), high in 11 (9%) among students.(Figure 1 A) After one month, the stress reported was mild in 67 (55.83%), moderate in 41 (34.17%), high in 12 (10%).(Figure 1 B) Stress was reported by 64.35% male students on first instance while 47.52% on second. Female students also displayed a fall in stress from 63.15% to 26.31%. Conclusion: Stress was detected in more than fifty percent First professional medical students in SHKM GMC Mewat, Haryana, which was reduced after stress management training. It is proposed that stress management training should be given in MBBS first professional and during pandemic like Coronavirus infection.