Journal of Research in Medical Education & Ethics
  • Year: 2014
  • Volume: 4
  • Issue: 1

Gender differences in stress and academic performance in medical students

  • Author:
  • A Sindhuja1,, Vidya M Nadiger2,, Ravikiran Kisan3,, Dileep V Deshpande4,
  • Total Page Count: 3
  • Page Number: 46 to 48

1Post Graduate Student, Department of Physiology, S.S. Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Jnanashankara, NH4 bypass, Davangere-577005, Karnataka

2Professor, Department of Physiology, S.S. Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Jnanashankara, NH4 bypass, Davangere-577005, Karnataka

3Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology, S.S. Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Jnanashankara, NH4 bypass, Davangere-577005, Karnataka

4Professor and Head, Department of Physiology, S.S. Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Jnanashankara, NH4 bypass, Davangere-577005, Karnataka, affiliated with Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore (India)

*Email id: drsindhu85@gmail.com

**Email id: vidyanadiger123@gmail.com

***Email id: ravikirankisan@gmail.com

****Email id: dileepvd@gmail.com

Online published on 23 April, 2014.

Abstract

Aim: To investigate the gender differences in stress and academic performance in first year medical students

Material and Methods: A sample of 96 medical students (48 males and 48 females) were recruited from the S.S. Institute of Medical sciences in the age group of 17–25 years. For stress, the Depression Anxiety Stress Score questionnaire was administered individually to each participant and the score for each component was calculated. The final exam marks were considered for academic performance. Student's unpaired T-test was used for analysis. Pearson's correlation was established for depression, anxiety, stress and academic performance.

Results: The results suggested that male medical students reported significantly higher stress when compared with their female counterparts. The academic performances of females were better than that of males, with a P-value of 0.04, which is statistically significant.

Conclusion: This study provides a rough idea about the stress levels of students in medical profession so that effective counselling and therapeutic intervention can be introduced.

Keywords

Depression, Anxiety, Stress, Medical students, Academic performance, Gender differences