The relationship between test anxiety and academic performance among undergraduate medical students

ABSTRACT

Background: Undergraduate medical education comprises strenuous study and training for five and half years. Mental health of medical students remains affected throughout this period. Objective: To assess the test anxiety in the undergraduate medical students and to find out the relationship between the test anxiety and academic performance in the students. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a Rural BPS Government Medical College for Women, Khanpur Kalan, Sonepat. The study population included all the undergraduate medical students enrolled from 2012 to 2016. Data pertaining to various socio-demographic characteristics were obtained by interview technique using a pre-designed, pre-tested questionnaire ensuring privacy and confidentiality and reviewing academic records. Nist and Diehl test anxiety questionnaire was used to determine the anxiety score of students. Statistical analyses were carried out with R v 3.5.1. Results: A total of 240 students participated in the study. More than one quarter (26.3%) of the students did not suffer from test anxiety, 62.9% students exhibited healthy test anxiety and 10.8% of the students experienced unhealthy test anxiety. In relation to academic performance of the respondents, 4 (12.5%), 47 (24.9%) and 12 (63.2%) of respondents who performed fair, good and excellent respectively had no anxiety level as against those who had healthy anxiety and unhealthy anxiety level and these differences were statistically significant. Conclusions: Text anxiety is significantly associated with academic performance. These findings suggest the need of healthcare provision to prevent unhealthy test anxiety among medical students, as it decreases the academic performance.