The Study on the Prevalence of Stressful Factors among Medical Students of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in 2020

To solve any problem, it is necessary to first recognize that problem and examine the factors affecting that issue; therefore, a detailed study of stressors can help us improve the quality of education and mental health of students.

This cross-sectional study was performed at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in the academic year 2020-2021. The participants were chosen from medical students studying in various grades using convenient sampling method. The instrument used was the standard MSSQ which consists of 20 questions including 6 different dimensions: Stress Related to Academic Issues, Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Stress, Teaching and Learning Stress, Social Stress, Desire Stress, Group Activity Stress.

A total of 463 people participated in this study out of whom 51.4% (236 people) were male. Overall, 49% of students were in high/severe condition. The highest level of stress among all dimensions belongs to the stressors related to academic issues (63.5%) and the least stressful factor for students was desire-related stress (8.20%). There was a significant relationship between total stress and gender (higher in women than men).

Considering that almost half of the students are in a high/severe state regarding stressful factors, effective training of students to manage stress and improve skills to reduce stress (e.g., by conducting workshops) would be promising.