ASSESSMENT OF PERCEIVED STRESS AMONG FIRST YEAR POST-GRADUATES IN A GOVERNMENT MEDICAL COLLEGE OF NORTH COASTAL ANDHRA PRADESH

Introduction: Stress is an external constraint which upsets individual mentally and physically. Stress has increased significantly in recent years. A united nation report labelled stress as “The 20th century epidemic”. Medical education is inherently demanding and stress full, researchers have shown that postgraduate doctors are under high level of stress due to work overload, time pressure to meet deadlines, work demands affecting personal and home life. This is of importance because there are reports of post graduates committing suicide and is known that quality of care that the physicians give is directly related to their own health. Objective: To assess the perceived stress among first year post graduates. Methodology: An Analytical Cross-sectional study was done among postgraduates. Perceived stress scale by Sheldon Cohen was used for this study. Based on their scores post graduates were categorized as mild, moderate and severely stressed. Result: Majority of the subjects belong to age group 24-29 years.18% subjects perceived low stress, 62% subjects perceived moderate stress, 20% subjects perceived high stress. Conclusion: Nearly 80% Moderate to severe perceived stress was observed among First year post graduates. There is a need for focused stress management programs to incorporate healthy coping strategies in postgraduate medical students.