title: Perceived psychological stress among undergraduate medical students: Role of academic factors.
abstract: Recently, there is a growing concern about stress during undergraduate medical training. The objectives of our study were to assess perceived stress among undergraduate medical students and to find out academic factors as determinants. A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey was carried out among undergraduate medical students of R. G. Kar Medical College, India, during July 2011-June 2012. Perceived stress was assessed using the Perceived Stress Scale-14. A 10-item questionnaire was used to assess academic sources of stress and their severity. The overall mean perceived stress score was 29.58 (standard deviation [SD] = 6.60), and 46.3% of the participants were in the group of more stressed (perceived stress score ≥28). The academic stressor factors predicted 78% of variability of perceived stress. A higher level of perceived stress was reported by the students. The students should be taught different stress management techniques to improve their ability to cope with a demanding professional course.
authors.affiliation: Independent Researcher, Department of Community Medicine, North Bengal Medical College, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Ranadip
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chowdhury
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, North Bengal Medical College, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Abhijit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mukherjee
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Burdwan Medical College, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Kaushik
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mitra
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Burdwan Medical College, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Somnath
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Naskar
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, R. G. Kar Medical College, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Prasanta Ray
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Karmakar
authors.affiliation: Professor and Head, Department of Community Medicine, R. G. Kar Medical College, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Saibendu Kumar
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Lahiri
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology*; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult