Effect of Stress on Academic Performance in First Year Dental Students

Introduction: A commonly seen view is that chronic stress has an adverse affect on academic performance. Because dental students typically report high levels of stress, they may be at particular risk. 1 Stress affects an individual's productivity either by increasing it ('eustress') or decreasing it ('distress'). It is widely acknowledged that the dental fraternity is predisposed to enormous stress. Material and methods: This was Descriptive cross-sectional study carried out in Department of Physiology. 60 first year dental undergraduates were assessed for the common sources of stress and the level of stress using semi-structured Performa and stress scale. The results was compared and correlated. First BDS students with age of 18-20 years both male and female healthy students with volunteer participation only were included in the study. Results : On the basis of stress levels, maximum number of students 63.33% (38 ) students showed medium level of stress) while 35% (21) students who showed high level of stress . In general, overall female students showed higher level of stress. A total of 43.33% (26) students earned more than 50% of cumulative grade points in Ist professionals. Female students had better attendance as compared to male students. Conclusion: From this study, we may conclude that High level of attendance and better day to day performance in female medical students was associated with more the stress when compared to the male students.