CAUSES OF STRESS AND MANAGEMENT

APPROACHES AMONG IIUM PHARMACY

STUDENTS

MOHD ASHRAF BIN NOR MUHAMMAD

4th YEAR, BACHELOR OF PHARMACY, IIUM

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FAPA189 Mohd Ashraf Nor Muhammad1, Muhammad Fauzul Kabir Kassim2, Ahmad Zubair Samsul Bahari3, Izzureen Sumali4, Puteh Masfirah Ibrahim5, Nursyafiqah Zulkepli6, Nor Amirah Adnan7, Rabiatul Adawiyah Dalim8, Siti Shahirah Muhammad Ghanisma9, I’zzah Farhah Othman10, Shazia Qasem Jamshed11

1Kulliyyah of Pharmacy, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuantan, Pahang

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Stress is one of the psychological problems that affect one’s mental and physical condition resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances.

“Stress may be defined as psycho physiological process usually experienced as a negative emotional state that generates a host of chemical and hormonal reactions in the body.”(M.Assaf, 2012)

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However, stress does not necessarily causes negative outcomes. Basically, stress can cause physical and psychological in which it affects the personal mental well-being, humanistic quality and spirituality. (Shauna L. Shapiro, 1998).

OBJECTIVES

To explore the different causes of stress among pharmacy students of IIUM

To explore different ways of managing stress among pharmacy students of IIUM

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Study design Cross-sectional study design Study setting Undergraduate pharmacy students of International Islamic University

Malaysia (IIUM) Kuantan Campus Sample population 1st until 4th year undergraduate students registered in Kulliyyah of

Pharmacy IIUM in semester 1 2013/2014. Conducted as a classroom survey to minimize non-response

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Study instrument - Design Quantitative method – questionnaire (2nd until 15th November

2013) The questionnaire has three main domains; demographics, causes

of stress and managing approaches towards stress. Study instrument – Validity/Reliability Pilot study

40 students Cronbach’s Alpha – 0.631 Data Analysis The data will be subjected to SPSS version 21 and descriptive and

inferential statistics was applied

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RESULTS

Response Rate

65.9% (300 out of 455 students)

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DEMOGRAPHICS

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16% 16.70%

38.30%

29%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

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Percentage according to age range and gender

Male Female

30%

27%

29%

14%

Percentage of students according to year

1st year

2nd year

3rd year

4th year

DEMOGRAPHICS Characteristics Frequency (N) Percentage (%)

Gender

Male 98 32.7

Female 202 67.3

Marital status

Single 292 97.3

Married 8 2.7

Race

Malay 295 98.3

Indian 1 0.3

Others 4 1.3

Residential status

On campus 189 63.0

Off campus 111 37.0

Transportation

Bicycle 5 1.7

Motorcycle 72 24.0

Car 111 37.0

No vehicle 112 37.3

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FREQUENCY OF STRESS PER WEEK

2%

43%

47%

8%

Never Seldom Regularly All the time

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CAUSES OF STRESS

86% 79%

72.7% 70.3%

55.7%

30% 25%

19.7% 12.7%

7.3%

Causes of Stress

Quiz Schedule time Study workload

Final exam Result & CGPA Financial problem

Sleep disturbances Physical appearance Relationship with lecturer

Inadequate support

Note: The sum of the option percentages will exceed 100% because the respondents are asked to choose more than one option

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LABEL (CAUSES

OF STRESS)

Yes [N (%)] No [N (%)] GENDER (p

value)

AGE RANGE (p

value)

YEAR OF STUDY (p

value)

Schedule time 237 (79%) 63 (21%) 0.025 0.283 0.008

Relationship

lecturer

38 (12.7%) 262 (87.3%) 0.005 0.822 0.006

Inadequate

support

22 (7.3%) 278 (92.7%) 0.701 0.642 0.077

Study workload 218 (72.7%) 82 (27.3%) 0.002 0.014 0.005

Financial standing 90 (30%) 210 (71%) 0.132 0.781 0.204

Sleep disturbances 75 (25%) 225 (75%) 0.477 0.841 0.777

Physical

appearance

59 (19.7%) 241 (80.3%) 0.481 0.077 0.091

Results & CGPA 167 (55.7%) 133 (44.3%) 0.720 0.219 0.389

Quiz 258 (86%) 42 (14%) 0.129 0.009 0.006

Final exam 211 (70.3%) 89 (29.7%) 0.000 0.018 0.000

A majority of 258 students (86%) answered the cause of stress is due to quizzes. A significant correlation can be observed between age range (p=0.009) and year of study (p=0.006) to quizzes.

In the study done towards pharmacy students in Pakistan, 33% of pharmacy students are having stress due to frequent examinations, and it is the second highest compared to stress causes by assignments with the percentage of 36% (Yasmin, Asim et al. 2013).

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In comparison with our study, the percentage of stress causes by having assignments is 72.7%, which is higher compared to the percentage from respondents in Karachi, but still not the highest factor compared to quizzes.

Another study done in UAE had supported our findings, in which

the percentage of undergraduate health professions students having stress causes by consecutive exams is the highest among other causes (24.7%) (G.Gomathi, Ahmed et al. 2013).

In the study done among undergraduate medical students also shows that frequent examination is one of the most severe factors causing stress with percentage of 59% (Mohsin Shah 2010).

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A stress cause by financial problem is occurring minimally in our study, having percentage of 30%.

This data is supported by finding in the study done towards students in UAE with only 6.1% (G.Gomathi, Ahmed et al. 2013).

Another study also shows the same results of having lowest percentage of stress causes by financial problems which is only 14.7% (Marshall, Allison et al. 2008).

MANAGEMENT APPROACHES

70% 61.7%

53.7% 50.7%

39.6% 36.7%

9.3% 7.6%

Management approaches

Sleep Need peer support Breath deeply

Usrah Crying and be alone Eat a lot

Smoking Taking medication pills

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CONCLUSION

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The main cause of stress is due to quiz (frequent examination) and the least cause of stress is due to inadequate support.

Stress management is very crucial in an academic environment. If stress is not being well-managed, it could give detrimental effect to the academic performance of the students.

There is not a single solution on how to manage stress for everyone as different personality will have different way in managing stress.

Most of the student manage their stress by going to sleep.

RECOMMENDATIONS

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It is hoped that establishment of counseling programs and other activities can help students to manage stress related to student life.

It is recommended to conduct the study among other pharmacy students in Malaysia. This will make the result of the study more representative and reliable.

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Marshall, L. L., A. Allison, et al. (2008). "Perceived Stress and Quality of Life Among Doctor of Pharmacy Students." American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 72 (6): 137.

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Mohsin Shah, S. H., Samina Malik and Chandrashekhar T Sreeramareddy (2010). "Perceived Stress, Sources and Severity of Stress among medical undergraduates in a Pakistani Medical School." BMC Medical Education 2010, 10:2 doi:10.1186/1472-6920-10-2 10 (2): 1472.

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