Status of self-esteem in medical students of a college in Kathmandu: A descriptive cross sectional study

Abstract

Background: Self-esteem is vital to living a happy, confident and content life. Medical students experience various forms of stress due to academic, financial and social pressures which could affect their levels of self-esteem. This study aims to study the status of self-esteem among undergraduates of a medical college at Tribhuvan University, Nepal. Methods: After receiving the ethical approval from the Institutional Review Committee (IRC) of NAIHS; we conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study among the first- to fifth-year medical students from December 2020 to April 2021. 190 were selected for the study using a stratified random sampling technique. This study used the Rosenberg self-esteem scale to measure self–esteem of the participants. A Google Forms questionnaire was sent to the participants via email. Then, the data obtained were entered in the Google sheet and later analyzed using SPSS 27. A Chi-square test was used to identify potential differences in self-esteem scores among different variables. A p-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: This study included a total of 180 participants, among which, 18.9% (13.19% to 24.61%; at 95% CI) students showed low self -esteem. 74.4% (68.02% to 80.78%; at 95% CI) students had normal self-esteem and 6.7% (3.05% to 10.35%; at 95% CI) students had high self-esteem. The mean self-esteem score was 19.19 (15.01 to 23.37; at 95% CI). Female participants suffered more than males from low self-esteem, and third-year students had the highest percentage of low self-esteem (30.77%). Conclusion: The majority (74.4%) of medical students had normal self-esteem. However, 18.9% students had low self-esteem, among which, third-year students suffered the most (30.77%). Likewise, females exhibited higher prevalence of low self-esteem compared to males. Interventions to boost the level of self-esteem should be carried out to help medical students become confident and efficient doctors.

Self-esteem, optimism and their associated factors among Optometry students at the University of Lahore

“…Similar results have been observed in another study conducted on medical students in Tribhuvan University, Nepal. In this study, normal self-esteem was observed in 74.4% of the students, and low self-esteem was present in 18.9% [15] . According to two other similar studies, 18% and 19.4% of medical students were found to have low self-esteem [16,17] .…”

“…This leads to better self-esteem. Various factors, including age, sex, socioeconomic status, family environment, academic stress, and level of study, can influence students' self-esteem [15] . However, no significant association was observed between self-esteem and other sociodemographic variables in our study participants.…”