A Supply of Information towards Academic Stress in Students Pursuing Pharmacy Programme in India – An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Challenging stimulus can lead to positive outcomes such as motivation and improved task performance while threatening ones or distress can result in anxiety, depression and stress. The current prospective observational exploratory study was designed to assess the stressors causing academic stress in pharmacy students of India. In the study a standard stressors scale was designed with 35 questionnaires as open -ended questions to assess both the positive and negative responses of the student participants in a pharmacy institute of Andhra Pradesh. As based on hypothesis of assumption the stressors were categorized as curriculum framework and course of study, faculty and academic learning process, peer evaluation and placement cell and its activities. The study involved 603 participants out which 253 (42%) were male and 350 (58%) were female, the education qualification of the sample 94 were Diploma students, 246 were B. Pharmacy students, 103 were M. Pharmacy students and 160 were Pharm. D students including 20 students of post baccalaureate programme. In our study, the response in pharmacy students towards the stressors was found positive. In conclusion, our study was able to assess certain stressors with a help of a self-developed and administered standard stressors scale, from which the stressor component designed reported a considerable stress in pharmacy students which is negligible in regard to the sample size, but in specific it's the responsibility of the institution and faculty team for early screening and intervention are advisable to limit and minimise the stress.

Association of Academic Stress, Acne Symptoms and Other Physical Symptoms in Medical Students of King Khalid University

“…Academic stress has been well noted among pre-university and university students [ 11 ]. Across the globe, studies carried out at universities in Thailand, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, and India observed academics as a perceived stressor among students [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]. Scientific literature indicates that stress is quite prevalent in Saudi academia, particularly in female students studying health-related courses [ 19 , 20 , 21 ].…”

The association between stressful life events and mental health among Cypriot university students: A cross-sectional descriptive correlational study

“…Academic stress among college and university students has been well documented [27]. Studies conducted at universities in Thailand, Malaysia, the United Kingdom and India found that students around the world perceive academics as a stressor [28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. According to scienti c research, stress is fairly common in Saudi academia, especially among female students pursuing health-related courses [35,36].…”

Academic stress and prevalence of stress-related self-medication among undergraduate female students of health and non-health cluster colleges of a public sector University in Dammam, Saudi Arabia

“…This is reported worldwide as studies conducted in universities of the UK, India, Malaysia, and Thailand also highlighted that examinations and amount of taught content throughout the academic session were perceived as stressors by students. [ 16 17 18 24 25 26 27 ]…”

“…Moreover, counseling by pharmacists regarding self-care may help in promoting responsible self-medication among students. [ 26 28 ] Further investigation is needed to identify the reasons for relatively higher stress level among students studying in health cluster colleges as compared to nonhealth cluster college students. A self-evaluation and quality assurance process may be initiated to have an insight into the curriculum design that might help in restructuring the courses so as to decrease academic load and subsequently academic stress.…”