Effect of academic stress, educational environment on academic performance & quality of life of medical & dental students; gauging the understanding of health care professionals on factors affecting stress: A mixed method study.
<h4>Introduction</h4>Throughout their academic careers, medical and dental students face challenges that cause varying levels of stress, affecting their academic performance and quality of life (QoL). Our study aims to ascertain the effect of academic stress and the educational environme...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2023-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0290839&type=printable |
| _version_ | 1797394662881755136 |
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| author | Muhammad Hassan Wahid Mifrah Rauf Sethi Neelofar Shaheen Kashif Javed Ijlal Aslam Qazi Muhammad Osama Abdul Ilah Tariq Firdos |
| author_facet | Muhammad Hassan Wahid Mifrah Rauf Sethi Neelofar Shaheen Kashif Javed Ijlal Aslam Qazi Muhammad Osama Abdul Ilah Tariq Firdos |
| author_sort | Muhammad Hassan Wahid |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <h4>Introduction</h4>Throughout their academic careers, medical and dental students face challenges that cause varying levels of stress, affecting their academic performance and quality of life (QoL). Our study aims to ascertain the effect of academic stress and the educational environment on the QoL and academic performance of medical and dental students, encompassing the perspectives of both students and healthcare professionals.<h4>Methods</h4>A mixed-method research was conducted from February to May 2022, comprising students from a medical and dental college in Pakistan. During Phase 1, the students participated in the cross-sectional survey and completed the WHO Quality of Life Scale (WHOQOL-BREF), Academic Stress Scale, and Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) Inventory questionnaires. Academic performance was evaluated through last year's annual assessment results of the students. During Phase 2 of the study, interviews with healthcare professionals who had experience as the students' counsellors were conducted.<h4>Results</h4>The mean age of the sample (n = 440) was 22.24 ±1.4 years. The Cronbach Alpha reliability of the DREEM inventory was 0.877, that of the Academic Stress Scale was 0.939 and the WHOQOL scale was 0.895. More than half of the students (n = 230, 52.3%) reported better QoL and the majority perceived a positive educational environment (n = 323, 73.4%) and higher academic stress (n = 225, 51.1%). Males had significantly more academic stress (p<0.05). Those who perceived a positive educational environment and better QoL had better academic performance (p<0.05). Academic performance was positively and significantly correlated with QoL and academic stress (p = 0.000). In qualitative analysis, 112 codes were generated which converged into 5 themes: challenging educational environment, psychological need and support, individual differences, relationship and family life, and adjustment issues.<h4>Conclusion</h4>Medical and dental students encounter a myriad of challenges, along with significant academic stress, which detrimentally affects their academic performance, despite perceiving a positive educational environment. Conversely, a better QoL is associated with improved academic performance. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T00:23:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-27c277902a2c40808cb169b0cc1cf275 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T00:23:02Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-27c277902a2c40808cb169b0cc1cf2752023-12-12T05:33:19ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032023-01-011811e029083910.1371/journal.pone.0290839Effect of academic stress, educational environment on academic performance & quality of life of medical & dental students; gauging the understanding of health care professionals on factors affecting stress: A mixed method study.Muhammad Hassan WahidMifrah Rauf SethiNeelofar ShaheenKashif JavedIjlal Aslam QaziMuhammad OsamaAbdul IlahTariq Firdos<h4>Introduction</h4>Throughout their academic careers, medical and dental students face challenges that cause varying levels of stress, affecting their academic performance and quality of life (QoL). Our study aims to ascertain the effect of academic stress and the educational environment on the QoL and academic performance of medical and dental students, encompassing the perspectives of both students and healthcare professionals.<h4>Methods</h4>A mixed-method research was conducted from February to May 2022, comprising students from a medical and dental college in Pakistan. During Phase 1, the students participated in the cross-sectional survey and completed the WHO Quality of Life Scale (WHOQOL-BREF), Academic Stress Scale, and Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) Inventory questionnaires. Academic performance was evaluated through last year's annual assessment results of the students. During Phase 2 of the study, interviews with healthcare professionals who had experience as the students' counsellors were conducted.<h4>Results</h4>The mean age of the sample (n = 440) was 22.24 ±1.4 years. The Cronbach Alpha reliability of the DREEM inventory was 0.877, that of the Academic Stress Scale was 0.939 and the WHOQOL scale was 0.895. More than half of the students (n = 230, 52.3%) reported better QoL and the majority perceived a positive educational environment (n = 323, 73.4%) and higher academic stress (n = 225, 51.1%). Males had significantly more academic stress (p<0.05). Those who perceived a positive educational environment and better QoL had better academic performance (p<0.05). Academic performance was positively and significantly correlated with QoL and academic stress (p = 0.000). In qualitative analysis, 112 codes were generated which converged into 5 themes: challenging educational environment, psychological need and support, individual differences, relationship and family life, and adjustment issues.<h4>Conclusion</h4>Medical and dental students encounter a myriad of challenges, along with significant academic stress, which detrimentally affects their academic performance, despite perceiving a positive educational environment. Conversely, a better QoL is associated with improved academic performance.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0290839&type=printable |
| spellingShingle | Muhammad Hassan Wahid Mifrah Rauf Sethi Neelofar Shaheen Kashif Javed Ijlal Aslam Qazi Muhammad Osama Abdul Ilah Tariq Firdos Effect of academic stress, educational environment on academic performance & quality of life of medical & dental students; gauging the understanding of health care professionals on factors affecting stress: A mixed method study. PLoS ONE |
| title | Effect of academic stress, educational environment on academic performance & quality of life of medical & dental students; gauging the understanding of health care professionals on factors affecting stress: A mixed method study. |
| title_full | Effect of academic stress, educational environment on academic performance & quality of life of medical & dental students; gauging the understanding of health care professionals on factors affecting stress: A mixed method study. |
| title_fullStr | Effect of academic stress, educational environment on academic performance & quality of life of medical & dental students; gauging the understanding of health care professionals on factors affecting stress: A mixed method study. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effect of academic stress, educational environment on academic performance & quality of life of medical & dental students; gauging the understanding of health care professionals on factors affecting stress: A mixed method study. |
| title_short | Effect of academic stress, educational environment on academic performance & quality of life of medical & dental students; gauging the understanding of health care professionals on factors affecting stress: A mixed method study. |
| title_sort | effect of academic stress educational environment on academic performance quality of life of medical dental students gauging the understanding of health care professionals on factors affecting stress a mixed method study |
| url | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0290839&type=printable |
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