Stress, Associated factors and coping strategies among undergraduate medical students at Makerere university medical school: A cross sectional study

Abstract

Overview: Stress refers to how the body reacts and adjusts to any changes in the physical, mental and physiological environment (Melaku et al., 2015). The medical course has been proven to be one of the most stressful by its nature (Salam et al., 2013), with several factors implicated. To combat it, students respond by different coping mechanisms, both positive and negative, and may carry these on into their professional life. In Uganda, there is a paucity of data/research. This study was expected to add to the little available information and nudge university policy makers towards developing appropriate interventions. Objectives: To determine the prevalence of stress, its associated factors and coping strategies used among undergraduate medical students at MakCHS. Methods: This study was done among undergraduate medical students at Makerere university college of health sciences. Participants included students of MBChB from 1st to 5th years. 376 students were included in the study. Using 2 self-administered questionnaires, i.e., the Medical student stress questionnaire and the briefCOPE tools, the prevalence of stress, associated factors and the coping strategies used were measured. Results: 74.2% of the participants were within the age range of 18-24 years and most of them, 236 (62.8%) were male. The prevalence of stress was 57.2%. Academic related stress (ARS) showed the highest prevalence at 78.5%, with a peak in the 4th year of study. The most frequently used coping strategy was emotion-focused, followed by dysfunctional coping strategies, and least by problem-focused strategies, with means of 25.8 (5.7), 23.3 (5.7), and 17.3 (4.0) respectively. Conclusion: The prevalence of stress is high and tends to increase with progress of study. Academic related stress (ARS) was the most prevalent factor, followed by teaching and learning related stress (TLRS) and inter- and intrapersonal related stress (IRS). The students tended to use more positive than negative coping strategies to combat stress.