Study of test anxiety amongst undergraduate medical students from the state of Gujarat
BACKGROUND: Test anxiety is physiological and behavioral response that accompanies concerns about possible negative consequences of failure on an exam. Undergraduate medical students had their academics disrupted during COVID-19 pandemic. This study was done to assess levels of test anxiety among un...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Education and Health Promotion |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.jehp.net/article.asp?issn=2277-9531;year=2023;volume=12;issue=1;spage=325;epage=325;aulast=Patel |
| _version_ | 1797645703256735744 |
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| author | Rujvee Patel Jagdish Varma Ajay Phatak Somashekhar Marutirao Nimbalkar |
| author_facet | Rujvee Patel Jagdish Varma Ajay Phatak Somashekhar Marutirao Nimbalkar |
| author_sort | Rujvee Patel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BACKGROUND: Test anxiety is physiological and behavioral response that accompanies concerns about possible negative consequences of failure on an exam. Undergraduate medical students had their academics disrupted during COVID-19 pandemic. This study was done to assess levels of test anxiety among undergraduate medical students, its variance in relation to demography, COVID-19 pandemic, learning experiences, and individual factors.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Online questionnaire-based survey was done among undergraduate medical students from medical schools of Gujarat. Students from 1st, 2nd, and 3rd years who were about to appear in final exams from March to June 2021 and were asked to enroll on the survey. Apart from demography, COVID-19-related factors, learning experiences during lockdown, 10-item Westside test anxiety (WTA) scale was used to assess test anxiety levels and Kessler Psychological distress (K10) scale was used to assess level of psychological distress.RESULTS: Total of 370 students participated. Mean WTA Score was 3.15 ± 1; 60.2% of the respondents had moderate or higher levels of test anxiety. On bivariate analysis, WTA score was found significantly associated with year of study, coming from vernacular medium, various lockdown-related issues (poor internet connection, family financial problem, lack of information, worry about future), various learning experiences (self-rated proficiency with computers, feeling ill prepared for exams, feeling ill prepared for practical), and K10 score. Of these associations with K10 score, coming from vernacular medium and feeling ill-prepared for exams were maintained on multiple-linear regression.CONCLUSIONS: Vernacular medium of study during high school was found associated with test anxiety among medical students and can be a potential area of intervention. There may be merit in using WTA scale as a surrogate marker for distress in medical students. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T14:51:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4ba1f267c50c4aaa90396f7426bec98c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2277-9531 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T14:51:20Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Education and Health Promotion |
| spelling | doaj.art-4ba1f267c50c4aaa90396f7426bec98c2023-10-30T09:27:50ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsJournal of Education and Health Promotion2277-95312023-01-0112132532510.4103/jehp.jehp_1680_22Study of test anxiety amongst undergraduate medical students from the state of GujaratRujvee PatelJagdish VarmaAjay PhatakSomashekhar Marutirao NimbalkarBACKGROUND: Test anxiety is physiological and behavioral response that accompanies concerns about possible negative consequences of failure on an exam. Undergraduate medical students had their academics disrupted during COVID-19 pandemic. This study was done to assess levels of test anxiety among undergraduate medical students, its variance in relation to demography, COVID-19 pandemic, learning experiences, and individual factors.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Online questionnaire-based survey was done among undergraduate medical students from medical schools of Gujarat. Students from 1st, 2nd, and 3rd years who were about to appear in final exams from March to June 2021 and were asked to enroll on the survey. Apart from demography, COVID-19-related factors, learning experiences during lockdown, 10-item Westside test anxiety (WTA) scale was used to assess test anxiety levels and Kessler Psychological distress (K10) scale was used to assess level of psychological distress.RESULTS: Total of 370 students participated. Mean WTA Score was 3.15 ± 1; 60.2% of the respondents had moderate or higher levels of test anxiety. On bivariate analysis, WTA score was found significantly associated with year of study, coming from vernacular medium, various lockdown-related issues (poor internet connection, family financial problem, lack of information, worry about future), various learning experiences (self-rated proficiency with computers, feeling ill prepared for exams, feeling ill prepared for practical), and K10 score. Of these associations with K10 score, coming from vernacular medium and feeling ill-prepared for exams were maintained on multiple-linear regression.CONCLUSIONS: Vernacular medium of study during high school was found associated with test anxiety among medical students and can be a potential area of intervention. There may be merit in using WTA scale as a surrogate marker for distress in medical students.http://www.jehp.net/article.asp?issn=2277-9531;year=2023;volume=12;issue=1;spage=325;epage=325;aulast=Patelcovid-19 factorsmedical schoolspsychological distresstest anxietyvernacular mediumwestside test anxiety |
| spellingShingle | Rujvee Patel Jagdish Varma Ajay Phatak Somashekhar Marutirao Nimbalkar Study of test anxiety amongst undergraduate medical students from the state of Gujarat Journal of Education and Health Promotion covid-19 factors medical schools psychological distress test anxiety vernacular medium westside test anxiety |
| title | Study of test anxiety amongst undergraduate medical students from the state of Gujarat |
| title_full | Study of test anxiety amongst undergraduate medical students from the state of Gujarat |
| title_fullStr | Study of test anxiety amongst undergraduate medical students from the state of Gujarat |
| title_full_unstemmed | Study of test anxiety amongst undergraduate medical students from the state of Gujarat |
| title_short | Study of test anxiety amongst undergraduate medical students from the state of Gujarat |
| title_sort | study of test anxiety amongst undergraduate medical students from the state of gujarat |
| topic | covid-19 factors medical schools psychological distress test anxiety vernacular medium westside test anxiety |
| url | http://www.jehp.net/article.asp?issn=2277-9531;year=2023;volume=12;issue=1;spage=325;epage=325;aulast=Patel |
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