title: Exam anxiety in the undergraduate medical students of Taibah University.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Assessment is perceived to create highly stressful environment among medical students. Several studies have reported exam-related anxiety symptoms but the contributing factors seem to differ across institutions. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of exam anxiety, gender differences and the variables that moderate exam anxiety among students of a Saudi medical school.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-section study was done on 5th year medical students by administering a 12-statement self-administered questionnaire. The degree of exam anxiety was gauged by a visual analog scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 125 students, 111 responded (response rate 89%). About 65% students experienced exam anxiety due to various reasons. Studying all night before exam (28 students; 25.2%) and extensive course load (26 students; 23.4%) were the major confounding factors. Female students experienced more stress due to extensive course load as compared with male students (p = .00).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The data about the identified risk factors for exam anxiety can help medical educators to deeply understand the reasons for exam anxiety. There is a need to reassess the amount of study material in undergraduate medical curricula and students need to organize their time management skills to cope with exam anxiety.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Orthopedics, College of Medicine , Taibah University , Almadinah Almunawwarah , Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Khalid I
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Khoshhal
authors.affiliation: b Department of Surgery, College of Medicine , Taibah University , Almadinah Almunawwarah , Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Gamal A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Khairy
authors.affiliation: b Department of Surgery, College of Medicine , Taibah University , Almadinah Almunawwarah , Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Salman Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Guraya
authors.affiliation: c Department of Radiology, College of Medicine , Taibah University , Almadinah Almunawwarah , Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Shaista S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Guraya
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013732:Test Anxiety Scale