Pre-exam anxiety during COVID-19: A cross-sectional study of medical and paramedical students in the Arab community.

IF 1.3 4区 医学 Q2 MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL
Ali Mohamed Naguib Elgendy, Amira Yasmine Benmelouka, Zain Douba, Abdelrahman M Attia, Jackleen Rasmy, Muhamad Zakaria Brimo Alsaman, Aya Zazo, Abdul Fattah Mohandes, Yasmine Adel Mohammed, Mohamed Abd-ElGawad
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Pre-exam anxiety is a condition that affects students before their exams, and significantly affects their academic performance, physical, and mental state. Medical and paramedical students are more likely to experience exam-related stress and anxiety. Here we aimed to evaluate the prevalence of exam anxiety and its associated risk factors among undergraduate Arab medical and paramedical students. We performed a multi-center cross-sectional study in 6 Arab countries: Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Algeria, and Libya from March to April 2021. We used Epi Info version 7.2 software to calculate the sample size. An online questionnaire including The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 Items (DASS-21) was used to measure exam-related anxiety. A total of 18,979 participants filled out the questionnaire, 71.3% of them were females. The majority of the study participants were between the ages of 20 to 21 years 42.4% (n = 8055). On the DASS, 38.8% of participants experienced severe symptoms of depression, 47.6% of them experienced severe symptoms of anxiety, and 30.2% experienced severe symptoms of stress. Of the 3 subscales of the DASS, Females had a significantly higher risk than males of developing Depression, Anxiety, and Stress (B = 2.454, P < .001), (B = 4.256, P < .001), (B = 3.516, P < .001) respectively. Participants aged 22 years or more were less susceptible to test-related depression (B = -0.907, P < .001) and anxiety (B = -0.958, P < .001). Students who spend 13 to 18 hours a week studying, were considerably more likely to have lower scores on all DASS subscales than those who study more than 18 hours per week, depression (B = -0.983, P < .001), Anxiety (B = -1.334, P < .001) and stress (B = -1.693, P < .001). The prevalence of exam-related anxiety, stress, and depression is high among medical and paramedical students in the Arab region. Medical educators should be aware of the impacts of this comorbidity and should work on implementing new and effective strategies to help students cope with psychological changes during exams. This paper gives a clearer insight into the level of exam anxiety and its predictors, which will enable the responsible authorities to intervene, based on the findings.

考前焦虑是学生在考试前的一种状态,会严重影响他们的学习成绩、身体和精神状态。医科和辅助医科学生更容易经历与考试相关的压力和焦虑。在此,我们旨在评估阿拉伯医科和护理专业本科生中考试焦虑症的患病率及其相关风险因素。我们在 6 个阿拉伯国家开展了一项多中心横断面研究:我们于 2021 年 3 月至 4 月在埃及、叙利亚、伊拉克、巴勒斯坦、阿尔及利亚和利比亚 6 个阿拉伯国家进行了一项多中心横断面研究。我们使用 Epi Info 7.2 版软件计算样本量。我们使用了包括抑郁、焦虑和压力量表-21 项(DASS-21)在内的在线问卷来测量与考试有关的焦虑。共有 18979 名参与者填写了问卷,其中 71.3% 为女性。大部分参与者的年龄在 20 至 21 岁之间,占 42.4%(n = 8055)。在 DASS 中,38.8% 的参与者有严重的抑郁症状,47.6% 的参与者有严重的焦虑症状,30.2% 的参与者有严重的压力症状。在 DASS 的 3 个分量表中,女性患抑郁、焦虑和压力症的风险明显高于男性(B = 2.454,P = 0.05)。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Medicine
Medicine 医学-医学:内科
CiteScore
2.80
自引率
0.00%
发文量
4342
审稿时长
>12 weeks
期刊介绍: Medicine is now a fully open access journal, providing authors with a distinctive new service offering continuous publication of original research across a broad spectrum of medical scientific disciplines and sub-specialties. As an open access title, Medicine will continue to provide authors with an established, trusted platform for the publication of their work. To ensure the ongoing quality of Medicine’s content, the peer-review process will only accept content that is scientifically, technically and ethically sound, and in compliance with standard reporting guidelines.
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