Volume 10, Issue 7 (July 2023), Pages: 195-202
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Original Research Paper
Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on stress and coping strategies among medical students: A cross-sectional study
Author(s):
Fahad Abdulaziz Alrashed 1, *, Tauseef Ahmad 2, Kamaran Sattar 2, Mishal M. Aldaihan 3, Muneera M. Almurdi 3, Leen Khalid Alrashed 2, Afaf A. M. Shaheen 3, Abdulrahman M. Alsubiheen 3
Affiliation(s):
1Department of Cardiac Sciences, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
2College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
3Department of Health Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 10219, Riyadh 11433, Saudi Arabia
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* Corresponding Author.
Corresponding author's ORCID profile: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5975-3275
Digital Object Identifier:
https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2023.07.021
Abstract:
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented significant challenges and stressors for medical students, potentially affecting their emotional well-being. This study aimed to explore the influence of stress during and after the COVID-19 pandemic on medical students' sociodemographic characteristics and their coping strategies. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1st to 5th-year medical students utilizing a self-administered questionnaire, alongside the Kessler 10 Psychological Distress questionnaire, to collect data on perceived stress and coping variables. The findings revealed a notable gender disparity in stress levels during the COVID-19 period, with female medical students experiencing significantly higher stress prevalence (38.5%) compared to their male counterparts (16.2%). However, in the post-COVID period, medical students reported slightly lower stress levels, with female students at 26.9% and male students at 12.8%, compared to the COVID-19 phase. Nonetheless, stress levels were found to be significantly higher post-COVID compared to the during-COVID period. Furthermore, the study identified that stress severity varied across different medical school years, with 3rd-year students experiencing the highest stress levels (OR=8.9; P<0.0001), followed by 5th-year (OR=6.6; P=0.0004), 1st-year (OR=3.9; P=0.008), and 4th-year (OR=2.4; P=0.01) students. Among the coping strategies adopted by medical students to manage moderate to severe stress, "Religious activities" emerged as the most effective approach (OR=0.44; P=0.0001). Furthermore, the study highlighted a noteworthy increase in stress levels among female students during the transitional year of medical school, i.e., the third medical year, which marks the transition from preclinical to clinical training. Considering the study's findings, a support program is proposed, aiming to integrate psychological, organizational, and instrumental assistance. This program aligns with the participatory model of intervention and is designed to address the unique stressors faced by medical students during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
© 2023 The Authors. Published by IASE.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, Medical students, Stress, Coping strategies, Psychological distress
Article History: Received 15 December 2022, Received in revised form 26 May 2023, Accepted 8 June 2023
Acknowledgment
The authors extend their appreciation to the Deputyship for Research and Innovation, “Ministry of Education” in Saudi Arabia for funding this research (IFKSUOR3-063-1).
Compliance with ethical standards
Ethics approval and consent to participate
Institutional review board approval was obtained from the College of Medicine at KSU for the study protocol. Participants were required to consent to participate in the study before completing the questionnaires.
Conflict of interest: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Citation:
Alrashed FA, Ahmad T, Sattar K, Aldaihan MM, Almurdi MM, Alrashed LK, Shaheen AAM, and Alsubiheen AM (2023). Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on stress and coping strategies among medical students: A cross-sectional study. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 10(7): 195-202
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