title: Perceived stress and quality of life of pharmacy students in University of Ghana.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Stress among pharmacy students could greatly affect their learning activities and general well-being. It is therefore necessary to investigate how stress relates with the quality of life of students to maintain and/or improve their personal satisfaction and academic performance. A school-based longitudinal study was used to investigate the relationship between stress and quality of life of undergraduate pharmacy students. The 10-item perceived stress scale and the shorter version of the WHO quality of life scale were administered to the same participants at two time points i.e. Time 1 (4 weeks into the semester) and Time 2 (8 weeks afterwards). The correlations and differences between the study variables were tested using the Pearson's coefficient and independent sample t test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean stress scores were higher at Time 2 compared to Time 1 for the first and second years. However, there was no significant difference in stress for different year groups-Time 1 [F (3) = 0.410; p = 0.746] and Time 2 [F(3) = 0.909; p = 0.439]. Female students had higher stress scores at Time 2 compared to male students. The main stressors identified in the study were; large volume of material to be studied (88.2%), laboratory report writing (78.2%), constant pressure to maintain good grades (66.4%) and the lack of leisure time (46.4%). Even though most students employed positive stress management strategies such as time management (68.2%), other students resorted to emotional eating (9.1%) and alcohol/substance use (1.8%). At Time 2, perceived stress scores were significantly negatively correlated with social relationship (r = -0.40, p ≤ 0.0001), environmental health (r = -0.37, p ≤ 0.0001), physical health (r = -0.49, p ≤ 0.0001) and psychological health (r = -0.51, p ≤ 0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study reported significant correlations between stress and various domains of quality of life of undergraduate pharmacy students. It is thus necessary to institute some personal and institutional strategies to ameliorate the effect of stress on the quality of life of pharmacy students while encouraging the use of positive stress management strategies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy Practice and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana.
authors.forename: Adomah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Opoku-Acheampong
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy Practice and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana. iakretchy@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Irene A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Kretchy
authors.affiliation: Pharmacy Department, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana.
authors.forename: Franklin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Acheampong
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy Practice and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana.
authors.forename: Barima A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Afrane
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy Practice and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana.
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ashong
authors.affiliation: Administration, School of Pharmacy, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana.
authors.forename: Bernice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tamakloe
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana.
authors.forename: Alexander K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Nyarko
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D005869:Ghana; D006801:Humans; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D011788:Quality of Life; D012737:Sex Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D013339:Students, Pharmacy / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Distress; Ghana; Pharmacy; Quality of life; Stress; Students