title: Prevalence of stress among medical students: a comparative study between public and private medical schools in Bangladesh.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Throughout the world all health professionals face stress because of time-pressures, workload, multiple roles and emotional issues. Stress does not only exist among the health professionals but also in medical students. Bangladesh has currently 77 medical colleges 54 of which are private. This study was designed to collect baseline data of stress-level among Bangladeshi students, which we believe will form the basis for further in depth studies.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was conducted on medical students from 2 public and 6 private medical-schools in Bangladesh. All medical schools have common curriculum formulated by the Government of Bangladesh. The study population was 1,363 medical students of Year-III and IV of academic session 2013/2014. Universal sampling technique was used. The period of study was February to June 2014. Data was collected using a validated instrument, compiled and analysed using SPSS version-20.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 990 (73%) out 1,363 medical students participated in the study, of which 36% were male and 64% were female. The overall prevalence of stress of the study population was 54%. 53% of male and 55% of female were reported suffering from stress. 54% of Year-III students and 55% of Year-IV were noted suffering from stress. There was statistically significant (p = 0.005) differences in the level of stress between public (2.84 ± 0.59) and private (2.73 ± 0.57) medical schools student.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  More than half of Bangladeshi medical students are suffering from measureable academic stress. It would be pertinent if the relevant authorities could address the issue so as to provide a conducive medical learning environment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Dhaka Medical College, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh. elizaomar2381@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Eliza Omar
authors.initials: EO
authors.lastname: Eva
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Eastern Medical College, Comilla, 3520, Bangladesh. zakirulislamcom7@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Md Zakirul
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Uttara Adhunik Medical College, Dhaka, 1230, Bangladesh. drmosaddek25@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Abu Syed Md
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Mosaddek
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Eastern Medical College, Comilla, 3520, Bangladesh. faizur_dr@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Md Faizur
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Rahman
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Shaheed Monsur Ali Medical College, Dhaka, 1230, Bangladesh. rinijuliet@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Rini Juliet
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Rozario
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Central Medical College, Comilla, 3503, Bangladesh. giribaj@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: A F Md Hassan
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Iftekhar
authors.affiliation: Department of General and Dental Pharmacology, Sapporo Dental College and General Hospital, Dhaka, 1230, Bangladesh. shahniam@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Tarafder Shahniam
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Chittagong Medical College, Chittagong, 4218, Bangladesh. iffatcom7@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Iffat
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Jahan
authors.affiliation: Unit of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Medical Kampus, Jalan Sultan Mahmud, 20400, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia. unisza7@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Abdullahi Rabiu
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Abubakar
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 16150, Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia. wpelena@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Wan Putri Elena Wan
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Dali
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Medicine, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, 190 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA. mrazzaque@hms.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Mohammed S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Razzaque
authors.affiliation: Sir Salimullah College and Hospital, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh. nicvd@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Rahat Bin
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Habib
authors.affiliation: Unit of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Medical Kampus, Jalan Sultan Mahmud, 20400, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia. runurono@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mainul
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haque
mesh_terms: D001459:Bangladesh / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004501:Education, Medical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017149:Private Sector; D017150:Public Sector; D012577:Schools, Medical; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult