Pre-Examination Stress Among Pre-Clinical Medical Students:
1Department of Human Anatomy, Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria
Abstract
Introduction: The demands of medical education predispose to high stress levels, compromising students' well-being and performance. This study investigated the sources, severity, and effects of pre-examination stress and the coping mechanisms adopted by medical students in a Nigerian University.
Materials and Methods: This e-survey conducted in Delta State, Nigeria adopted a descriptive cross-sectional design. A questionnaire developed by Google Forms was disseminated using WhatsApp to 200 and 300 level medical students in the Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences after ethical authorization. It encompassed questions concerning the causes and effects of pre-exam stress, and the coping mechanisms. S-Anxiety subscale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was included to assess the prevalence and severity of stress. Fully completed questionnaires were received from 167 respondents, aged 16-30 years. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (Version 27.0) compared the frequencies using the Chi-Square test and analysed the differences in STAI scores using the independent t-test and the analysis of variance. Significance was set at p < 5%.
Results: Mean anxiety scores were higher in females, 200 level students and those residing in personal rooms. High anxiety levels were more prevalent in females (46, 49.5%) than males (28, 37.8%) (p<0.05). Prayer and physical exercises were the predominant coping strategies in females and males respectively.
Conclusion: Medical education can adversely affect students' mental health. To mitigate this, universities should design curricula that address students' challenges and provide mental health resources for students.
Data Availability
Data from this study are not publicly available due to ethical considerations, however are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Author Biographies
Dr. Mamerhi Taniyohwo Enaohwo
Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Biology
Mr. Ogheneyole Jeremiah
Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Biology
Miss. Orovwoghene Faithful Omoro
Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Biology
Prof. Patrick Sunday Igbigbi
Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Biology
menu_book References
- Rahman IA, Ismail S, Nur T, Binti A, Seman T, Farah N, et al. Stress Among Preclinical Medical Students of University Sultan Zainal Abidin. J Appl Pharm Sci. 2013;3(11):76–81.
- Rajanayagam B, Manikandan S, Anand N, Selvaraj S. Prevalence of anxiety depression and stress among first year medical students in Tamilnadu. Bioinformation. 2023;19(5):649–54.
- Patil S, Aithala M. Exam anxiety: Its prevalence and causative factors among Indian medical students. Natl J Physiol Pharm Pharmacol. 2017;12.
- Kashyap K, Kumar P, Kashyap H. Depression, Anxiety, Stress and Suicide among Medical Student: A Brief Overview. Int, j. Indian psychol.2023;11(4):2233–52.
- Loya NS, Jiwane NN. Exam Anxiety in Professional Medical Students. Int J Innov Sci Res Technol. 2019;4(8).
- Daud S, Zakir Shaikh R, Ahmad M, Awan Z ul hassan. Stress in Medical Students. Pakistan Journal of Med Sci.2014;8(3):503–7.
- Rehman F, Saeed I, Farasat Khan N, Shahzad H, Janjua AR, Ajmal Z. Measuring the Level of Examination Anxiety among Students in a Private Medical College in Lahore. PJHMS. 2018;12(3):1085–8.
- Divya M, Navya C, Vidhu M, Aswathy M. Prevalence of perceived stress among first year under graduate medical students of a private medical college, Thrissur, Kerala. MIJOCM. 2019;11(3).
- Farajpour A, Mashoufi R. Medical Students Counteract with Test Anxiety: victory or defeat? Canon J.med. 2023;4(2):55–8.
- Memon I, Omair A, Barradah OM, Almegren NM, Almuqbil MM, Batarfi OH, et al. Measurement of Exam Anxiety Levels Among Medical Students and Their Association with the Influencing Factors. Cureus .2023;15(7).
- Rizvi AH, Awaiz M, Ghanghro Z, Jafferi A, Aziz S. Pre-Examination Stress in Second Year Medical Student in a Government College. J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad .2010;22(2):152–5.
- Nagpal S, Grewal S, Walia L, Kaur V. A Study to Access the Exam Stress in Medical College and Various Stressors Contributing to Exam Stress. Sch. J. App. Med. Sci. 2015;3(7C):2615–20.
- Bonna AS, Sarwar ASM, Nasrullah SM, Razzak KS Bin, Chowdhury SR, Rahman S, et al. Exam Anxiety among Medical Students in Dhaka City and Its Associated Factors-A Cross-sectional Study. Asian J. Med. Health. 2020;20–30.
- Sonali K, Smriti M, Liwa P, Pragyan P, Sucheta P. Scoring Stress in Medical Students: A Stratified Analysis to Help Develop an Effective Mentor-Mentee Program in a Medical School Setting, Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Am J Biomed Sci & Res. 2023;17(6):633–7.
- Okoye OC. Perceived Stress and Stressors among Undergraduate Medical Students of a Nigerian Institution. Malawi Med J .2022;34(4):245–51.
- Patil S, Patkar U, Patkar K. Comparison of Levels of Stress in Different Years of M.B.B.S. Students in A Medical College-An Observational Study. Int. j. contemp. Med. Res. (online). 2016;3(6):1655–7.
- Khalifah W, Abu-Yusef M, Abed-Elhadi A, Barq A, Yassen M, Hanani A, et al. Exams-related stress and the pattern of substance use and misuse among Palestinian medical and health sciences students. Discov. Psychol. 2023;3(1):36.
- Kudachi P, Latti R, Goudar S. Effect of Examination Stress on the Academic Performance of First Year Medical Students. Biomedicine (Taipei). 2008;28(8).
- Khan AN, Rasool SA, Sultan A, Tahira I. Prevalence of Examination Related Anxiety in a Private Medical College. J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. 2013;25(2):113–8.
- Manisha M, Pavithra V, Suganya M, Arun B. Evaluation of Exam Anxiety among Health Science Students. Int. J. Res. Rev. 2019;6:359–63.
Published in Vol. 8 No. 2 (2025): African Journal of Tropical Medicine and Biomedical Research, December 2025.
format_quote How to Cite
Copyright (c) 2025 African Journal of Tropical Medicine and Biomedical Research
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Most read articles by the same author(s)
- Dr. Ominde Beryl Shitandi, Dr. Ikubor Joyce Ekeme, Dr. Enaohwo Taniyohwo Mamerhi , Dr. Iju Wilson Josiah, Prof. Patrick S. Igbigbi, A Computed Tomographic Study on The Morphological Variants of The Uncinate Process in A Selected Nigerian Population , African Journal of Tropical Medicine and Biomedical Research: Vol. 7 No. 1 (2024): African Journal of Tropical Medicine and Biomedical Research, December 2024.