Comparison of perception of academic stress among medical and non-medical students

Abstract

Background: Undergraduate students from all fields of study are under constant perceived stress due to workload, and their perceptions about academic success. Determining the difference in the perception of Academic stress to cope with it.

Objective: To determine the differences in perceptions of academic stress among medical and non-medical undergraduates.

Materials and Methods: In this comparative cross-sectional study, data was collected through a stratified sampling technique from undergraduate medical (n=200) and non-medical (n=200) students. This research included male and female undergraduate students with a minimum of 50% attendance. Data was collected through the Perception of Academic Stress Scale (PASS) to measure the perception of academic stress. An online structured questionnaire was shared through a communication media platform and data analysis was made through SPSS version 27.

Results: There were n=179 male undergraduates and n=221 female undergraduate students. The overall PASS score showed no significant difference (p≥0.05) in Perceived Academic stress in Medical and Non-Medical Undergraduate students and between male and female students.

Conclusions: This study found moderate level of Perceived academic stress to be the most prevalent with no significant difference in the perception of academic stress between medical and non-medical students. Additionally, it showed that male and female students experienced similar levels of academic stress.