DefinePK

Abstract

Abstract


The objective of this study was to explore perceived causes of stress and to analyse the influence of marital status and gender as indicators of these causes. Modified Graduate Dental Stress Environment Questionnaire was used on postgraduate students of basic dental sciences at a public sector university in Pakistan. Mean±SD was calculated for all stress-related items and statistical analysis was done through Mann Whitney-U test and multiple linear regression analysis. Out of 53 stress-related items, 15 (28.3%) factors were perceived as mildly stressful, 33 (62.26%) as moderately stressful and 9.4% as highly stressful. A significant relationship was found between 6 stress-related items and marital status. In the questionnaire majority of these items came under the domain of selfefficacy. Single students were more stressed in four areas relating to future career, academic responsibilities and confidence in their decision-making ability, while married students experienced higher stress when competing for research experience in their learning programmes.
Keywords: Stress, Marital Status, Dental, Postgraduate, Pakistan. https://doi.org/10.5455/JPMA.4571


Introduction

Student population has always been exposed to stressful situations in a competitive environment in pursuit of professional achievements. Prolonged and high-level stress affects the personal, psychological and professional wellbeing of dental students, harming their quality of life and professional performance. In some situations it leads to a burnout, which in turn is a major concern for the dental educators.1 Educational experiences of postgraduate (PGs) students differ greatly from undergraduate students mainly due to differences in age, previous exposure to dental school environment and financial, social and career responsibilities, making them a unique sub-group in the dental education environment. 2 PGs often serve as "role models" for their undergraduate colleagues; however less attention is given to understanding problems associated with their emotional or psychological well-being, as indicated by the scarcity of data in this area. Most of the research is focused on clinical postgraduate dental students, 2,3while postgraduate students in basic dental sciences have not been given much attention. Since stress is related to work demands, a difference in the type and level of stress between students of these two streams of dental specialisations can be expected. While factors such as lack of leisure time or the pressure of academic, research or clinical activities have mostly been the focus of researchers to analyse perceived stress, 2,4the influence of marital status in postgraduate dental education has been ignored as a stress indicator. Even among undergraduate dental students, data with regards to marital status (married or single) in relation to stress is controversial. 5,6 Similarly, among PGs the data with regards to differences in gender on the perception of stress remains controversial. 2,4 The objective of the present study was to report perceived causes of stress and the influence of marital status and gender on the perception of stress among postgraduate students of basic dental sciences (PGs-B). No study has evaluated perceived causes of stress, especially the effects of social measures such as marital status among PGs-B. The findings can help understand social factors that can be of significance in student selection, designing student support systems and in the assessment of their overall educational experience.


Methods and Results

Modified version of previously validated Graduate Dental Environment Stress (GDES) questionnaire was used to measure perceived causes of stress among dental graduates. 2-5Following ethical approval, universal sampling was done that included all PGs-B students enrolled in MPhil or PhD in non-clinical sciences programmes of Oral Pathology, Oral Biology, Dental Materials and Immunology at the University of Health Sciences Lahore at the time of study, from December 2017 to May 2018. The duration of the study was six months. Informed consent was obtained in writing from voluntary student participants after assurance was given of confidentiality and anonymity. A cover letter explaining purpose of the study, response-filling procedure and a validated modified version of Graduate Dental Environment Stress (GDES) questionnaire were distributed among the study participants that consisted of age, gender, marital status and 53 stress-related items, without domain labeling. It had 47 items that were taken from previous published questionnaires 2-5and 6 new items that were added related to possible educational or social factors, based on observations by postgraduate teachers who assured of their validity. The items on the questionnaire were further categorised into seven stressprovoking domains: work load, self-efficacy beliefs, faculty and administration, research training, performance pressure, social stressors and general. 5As the students were mainly associated with bench-work research rather than clinical wards, the term "clinical" was replaced with the term "research" wherever applicable. 2 Students were asked to rate their responses on four-point Likert scale, ranging from "not stressful at all" to "very stressful".2-5 Data was analysed using IBM SPSS-Version 22. Mean±SD was calculated for age and all stress-related items. Items having mean scores of 2 were considered as mildly stressful; between 2 and 3 as moderately stressful and 3 as highly stressful. Mann Whitney-U test was used to compare means of married/single statuses and males/females genders, and linear regression was applied to predict the effect of marital status and gender on the perception of stress. P-value of