Effect of stress on alteration of haematological parameters: A preliminary study on preclinical medical students in Malaysia

The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of stress on haematological parameters among preclinical medical students. A cross-sectional study has been conducted on a total of 105 preclinical medical students at Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA), Terengganu, Malaysia. The validated depression anxiety stress scales-21 (DASS-21) questionnaire was distributed and blood samples were collected from the subjects on the same day to perform full blood count (FBC) test. There was no significant association between levels of stress with red blood cells (RBCs) count and indices. However, a significant negative association was identified between stress level and white blood cells (WBCs) count (r= - 0.204, p ≤ 0.05). Furthermore, no significant association was found between levels of stress and platelets count and indices, except the mean platelets volume (MPV); a significant positive association between students measured MPV and their perceived stress (r= 0.195, p ≤ 0.05) has been noted. Mean WBCs count was decreased, while mean MPV was increased with increasing stress levels. Furthermore, the structural equation model predicted that some parameters were near to be significantly associated with stress, which needs further investigation. This study provided novel insights about the potential effects of stress on blood cells and platelets. The results will help the researchers to uncover the critical areas of increasing ROS and oxidative stress caused by chronic life stress.