Prevalence and determinants of test anxiety among medical students in Addis Ababa Ethiopia

Abstract

BackgroundWorldwide, problematic test anxiety is a common health problem among medical students. The magnitude of problematic test anxiety ranges from 25 to 40% in undergraduate medical students and has a detrimental effect on academic achievement and success of students. However, data on the prevalence of test anxiety among medical students is limited. Thus, the study aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors of test anxiety among medical students.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, a stratified random sampling technique was used to select the participants. The level of test anxiety was determined by the Westside Test Anxiety Inventory (WTAI). We utilized logistic regression to explore the association between test anxiety and the potential sociodemographic/student-related characteristics among medical students.ResultsThe study included 423 medical students. Our study resulted the prevalence of problematic test anxiety among medical students to be 52.30% (95% CI 47.40–57.30). The prevalence of test anxiety was remarkably higher in women (79.75%) than in men (33.62%) students. Female sex [AOR = 3.25, 95% CI: (1.54, 6.89)], having low grade [AOR = 0.11,95% CI: (0.044,0.288)], being first year [AOR = 10.55,95% CI: (1.4,76.7)], excessive course load [AOR = 6.128,95% CI: (2.675,14.039)], and taking oral examination [AOR = 2.89,95% CI: (1.42,5.84)] were determined as some of the predicting factors of test anxiety among medical students. Additionally, lack of systemic study plan [AOR = 2.4, 95% CI: (1.25, 4.59)], poor social support [AOR = 3.6, 95% CI: (1.56, 8.29)], moderate social support [AOR = 3.39, 95% CI: (1.56, 7.4)], psychologically distressed [AOR = 2.68, 95% CI: (1.37, 5.27)] independently predicts test anxiety among medical students.ConclusionFindings suggest that a substantial percentage of medical students had problematic test anxiety in Ethiopia (52.30%). This study also showed a significant association between test anxiety and female sex, having poor grade point average, being the first year, excessive course load, oral examination, lack of study plan, poor social support, moderate social support, and having psychological distress. Problematic test anxiety, which is found to be common among medical students, deserves more attention.

Information Integration Cognitive Mechanisms Underlying the Face-to-Face or Online Statistics Test Anxiety Judgments of Engineering Students

“…Regarding the response process (R), the analyses revealed a medium level of anxiety among the participants irrespective of gender, which is in line with the available evidence (Lowe, 2019;Nunez-Pena et al, 2016;Sung et al, 2016;Tsegay et al, 2019). However, as noted before, given that male participants significantly outnumbered their female peers, any gender-related findings need to be interpreted with caution.…”

“…High levels of test anxiety tend to interfere with academic performance, potentially resulting in procrastinate on assignments, or even difficulties in learning due to failures in information processing or difficulties in organizing and retrieving information, ultimately jeopardizing students' mental health (Cassady, 2004;Custer, 2018;Jalilian et al, 2016;Malloy, 2016;Naveh-Benjamin et al, 1987). According to the available data, approximately 18% to 50% of students experience some degree of test anxiety (Ahmad et al, 2018;Bhuvaneswari, 2020;Marcue & Gonzalez, 2017;Thomas et al, 2017;Tsegay et al, 2019). However, it is particularly worrisome that nearly 7−25% of students suffer very high levels of test anxiety (Bhuvaneswari, 2020;Thomas et al, 2017).…”

Remote Online Exams Anxiety during the COVID-19 Crisis: A Cross-Sectional Study among Medical Students

“…Paying attention to the issue of anxiety in medical students requires more care because of the important consequences it can have (21,22). (31). Therefore, the amount of test anxiety that causes the problem, which the results of studies indicate is common among medical students, should be given more attention.…”

“…There may be a relation between test anxiety and dysfunction (38). Problematic test anxiety rates of 25 to 40% in undergraduate medical students can have devastating effects on academic performance and student achievement (31). Anxiety can lead to mental distress and negatively affect students' cognitive performance and learning (45).…”

General Anxiety, Academic Distress, and Family Distress Among Doctor of Pharmacy Students

“…Several studies have found the same association of female gender and a higher level of GA among pharmacy and non-pharmacy students. 1,[25][26][27] The second factor evaluated was physical activity. Similar to the Feltz-Cornelis and colleagues' study and the study by Xiang and colleagues, our data suggested an association between low physical activity and low-clinical GA (Table 2).…”