Stress, subjective well-being and its link to the academic performance amongst medical students of a tertiary care setting

Abstract

Background: Understanding medical students' mental health using subjective well-being indicators is important because it will allow for the creation of positive psychology-based intervention techniques as well as the implementation of main and secondary psychiatric disorder prevention procedures for medical students. These indicators may help to improve the overall quality of health care provided by these future professionals to the general public. Aims: The aim of the present study was to assess the levels of stress and subjective well being as well as factors related to it and their link to the academic performance amongst medical students of a tertiary care setting. Materials and Methods: This is a 3-month cross-sectional survey that took place amongst medical students at a tertiary care medical college in Salem, India, between January and March 2022. Students from all academic years, from first year to internship, were included in this study. The study included all students who were willing to participate and gave their informed consent. Results: Of the total 492 respondents, 288 (58.5%) were females and 204 (41.5%) were males. 29.7% of the study participants belonged to the first year of the MBBS course. 43.9% of the study participants possess a very good academic performance and majority (86.6%) of the students have regular attendance towards classes. Conclusion: Taken together, the findings of studies like these could inform preventive interventions aimed at reducing medical students' distress and promoting future doctors' well-being.