Stress perception and associated factors among healthcare students

Abstract

Introduction Stress and its deleterious effects are currently a major topic in public health. Health care studies can be very stressful as they pose a challenge for students around the world. The aim of this study was to assess stress perception among healthcare students and to identify its associated factors. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out over a five-month period (January-May 2017) among healthcare students at the Higher School of Health Sciences, University of Sousse (Tunisia), during the 2016/2017 academic year. The socio-demographic and health status data have been collected using a pre-established data collection sheet. Stress perception was assessed by the French version of the Perceived Stress Scale with 10 items (PSS-10). Factors associated with stress were examined using ANOVA and T-student tests. Results A total of 237 students participated in the study with a response rate of 64.40%. The average age was 20.57±1.05 with a female predominance of 90.7%. The mean of the PSS-10 total score was 31.37±4.406. A rate of 89% of cases had a perceived high-stress score. Factors associated with stress were social status (p = 0.005), housing (p = 0.01), hometown (p = 0.03), presence of a diagnosed health condition (p = 0.02), presence of eating disorder (p = 0.04), presence of sleeping disorder (p = 0.004). Conclusions This study reported that healthcare students had a high level of stress associated with endogenous and exogenous factors. Stress management strategies must be included in the educational curriculum in healthcare schools. Key messages Health care studies pose a challenge for students around the world. Healthcare students had a high level of stress associated with endogenous and exogenous factors.