Perceived Source of Stress Among Undergraduate Dental Students at BPKIHS, Nepal.

ABSTRACT

Stress is defined as the body's nonspecific response or reaction to demands made on it, or to disturbing events in the environment. The current study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of the sources of stress among the undergraduate dental students of, BPKIHS, Nepal. The descriptive cross sectional study was conducted using the Dental Environmental Stress Questionnaire (Westerman et al, 1993). The questionnaire was administered in the classroom. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS version 12.0.Based on the results obtained it was concluded that fear of failing, academic workload and requirements for completing the graduation were the most prevalent stressors. Clinical factors related to lack of time, patients unavailability and attitude of the faculty were considerately stressful. The living conditions and social factors were found to be the least of the stressful events. Factors related to marriage and children were deemed not related to creating any stress in the academic environment.This study highlights a need to review the current curriculum of the undergraduate students and to make suitable modifications to create a less stressful study environment for the future dentists of the country.