ASSESSMENT OF ANXIETY LEVEL OF THE FIRST-YEAR FOREIGN STUDENTS AT THE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY

The article deals with the study of anxiety level of the first-year students, whose adaptation process has certain peculiarities caused by social, political and psychophysiological factors. The aim of the research is examining the levels of situational and personal anxiety of the first-year foreign students at the medical university. To achieve the purpose 86 first-year students of the Higher State Educational Establishment of Ukraine “Bukovinian State Medical University” were surveyed by means of a questionnaire. The Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) in the modification by Y.L. Khanin was used in the study to assess anxiety. A moderate anxiety level was found in 27.9% cases (24 respondents) and a high anxiety level – in the 62 of the first-year students (72.1%). The first group (І) includ-ed 13 female students with a moderate level of situational and personal anxiety (an average age of respondents is 18.0±0.28 years), the second comparison group (ІІ) – 11 male respondents (an average age is 18.4±0.53 years). The female students with a moderate anxiety level were found to suffer from anxiety less than the male ones. The odds ratio of “feeling unlucky” in the representatives of group II as compared to those of group I was 37.5%, the relative risk was 2.4%, and the attributive risk was 57.5%, which is most likely indicative of considerable emotional overstress of the first-year boys. At the same time, in the thoughts concerning own business anxiety feelings were found more often among boys than among girls with odds ratio 83.4%, relative risk 2.8%, attributive risk 64.4%. Sensations of internal constrain, sadness, worries and gloom, were found reliably more often in group II as compared with group I. On the basis of the survey of the first-year foreign students of the medical university a moderate or high anxiety level was found, which is indicative of an immediate necessity to improve psychological training of applicants and develop methods of psychological correction of the above mentioned pathology during the first years of studying. Anxiety level of male students appeared to be considerably higher than that of the girls, which is indicative of their more considerable emotional overstress manifested by the sensations of internal constrain, sadness, worries and depression during studies. Keywords: personal and situational anxiety, medical university, first-year students.