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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · European Journal of General Dentistry 2015; 4(03): 121-126
DOI: 10.4103/2278-9626.163335
Original Article

Perceived sources of stress among dental college students: An Indian perspective

Tegbir Singh Sekhon
1   Department of Periodontology, Seema Dental College and Hospital, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India
,
Simran Grewal
Department of Physiology, MM University, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India
,
Ramandeep Singh Gambhir
2   Department of Public Health Dentistry, Gian Sagar Dental College and Hospital, Rajpura, Punjab, India
,
Sumit Sharma
3   Department of Periodontology, Surendra Dental College and Research Institute, Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan, India
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Abstract

Background: Identification of the potential sources of stress is important in dental education program, as it gives opportunity to take various measures to prevent stress in the dental school environment. The purpose of the present study was to address various sources of stress among dental school students and its relation with gender and year of the study. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire based cross-sectional study was conducted among 3rd and 4th year students of a dental school. Questionnaire used in the study comprised the modified version of the questionnaire used in Dental Environmental Stress. A four-point Likert scale was used to record the responses from the subjects. A total of 174 subjects participated in the study. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS package version 16. Results: Of the participants, 39% (68) were males and 61% (106) were females. Majority of students felt stressed about academic performance, clinic/patient related stress, and career related stress. Top stressors in academic performance related stress were exam and grade stress (95%), followed by fear of failing (90.5%), lack of time between tests/clinics, and criticism at work (94%). Mean stress scores were significantly related to year and gender of students. Conclusion: Worries about fulfilling clinical requirements, academics, exam stress, and insecurity regarding career were the major sources of stress reported by the clinical year dental students in the present study.

Keywords

Dental students - environment - performance - profession - stress


Publication History

Article published online:
01 November 2021

© 2015. European Journal of General Dentistry. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.)

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