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Stress and its relief among undergraduate dental students in a tertiary health care centre in eastern Nepal

Sabita Paudel*,Nuwadatta Subedi,Ashish Shrestha

Background: Dentistry is associated with a number of stressors resulting to depression, anxiety, substance misuse, absenteeism, diminished work efficiency, and burnout. The study was conducted with the objectives to know the prevalence and type of stressors; their consequences stress relievers among the clinical dental students.
Methods: It is a descriptive cross-sectional qualitative study carried out using a self-administered questionnaire among the clinical dental students of a college of dental surgery of eastern Nepal. The questionnaire was adapted from the Dental Environmental Stress Questionnaire designed by Westerman et al., and was modified to include several cultural factors appropriate for Nepali students. Students were asked to assess the questionnaire items as “not stressful,” “slightly stressful,” “moderately stressful,” and “severely stressful” on a four-point Lickert scale.
Results: When responses were divided into either stressful or not stressful, the prevalence of stress was 100%. Among self-efficacy beliefs, insecurity regarding professional future, (90.0%) atmosphere created by clinical faculty (93.34%), difficulty to get suitable patients (93.34%), fear of sexually transmissible diseases/AIDS/ hepatitis B while working on patients (96.56%), need to find own patients (88.89%) and examinations and grading procedures (96.67%) were the common stressors in different years of study. The two most frequently mentioned consequences of stress during all years were fatigue/tiredness (77.79% to 96.56%) and mood alteration (69.45% to 83.33%). Listening to music was the leading stress reduction method during all academic years (82.76% to 86.67%).
Conclusion: The students in all years of study had high prevalence of stress. The most frequently mentioned consequences of stress during all years were fatigue/tiredness and mood alteration. Listening to music was the leading stress reduction technique for students in all academic years. A contemporary dental school should address potential stress sources effectively, thus promoting the educational and professional well-being of dental undergraduates.