PREVALENCE OF STRESS AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH RESILIENCE AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS IN A TERTIARY CARE CENTER, AURANGABAD, MAHARASHTRA, INDIA

Background: Medical science is perceived as a stressful educational career, and medical students experience monstrous stress during their undergraduate studies and internships because of its depth and competitiveness. Prolonged stress can cause health problems, hamper academic achievements, and affect patient care. Objectives: The present study aimed to assess the prevalence of stress and its association with resilience, as well as the coping strategies adopted by medical students. Material & Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among medical undergraduate students studying at a tertiary care hospital situated in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, between June and July 2022. Using Cochrans formula and the previous studys prevalence of 51.1%, 425 medical students from first year to internship were included. A self-administered questionnaire consisting of Sociodemographic characteristics, items from the Kessler 10 inventory, and the BRIEF resilient coping scale were used. Results: The overall response rate was 79.11%, with 380 out of 425 students returning the questionnaire. The study found that 57.6% of medical students were suffering from high levels of stress, and the highest prevalence was among the 1st year students, followed by the internship students, and then the final year students. Stress was classified as mild (13.9%), moderate (8.9%), severe (34.7%), or likely to be well (42.4%) on the Kessler 10-item inventory scale. Academic factors are a greater perceived cause of stress. The religion, present address, medium of education and BRCS coping score had significant impact on presence of stress.(p=0.027, p=0.03, p=0.001,p=0.001 ) Conclusion: The study recommended that consideration be given to program decision-makers and health decision-makers to focus on significant actions to reduce the academic stress perceived by medical students. Preventive mental health services could be made an integral part of routine clinical services for medical students, especially in the initial academic years, to prevent such occurrences.