ABSTRACT

Aim: To find out the effect of year of study on undergraduate dental student’s stress level and to identify various stressors among undergraduate dental students.

Design: Cross Sectional Comparative Study.

Place & duration of study: The study was conducted in the Department of Behavioral sciences at University of Health Sciences, Lahore and data was collected from different dental colleges of Punjab based on convenience sampling technique.

Methods: 90 students from each professional year were chosen, with total sample size of 360. Convenience sampling technique was used. Proportion allocation was done for male and female student proportion calculation. DES questionnaire was distributed as per this allocation. This questionnaire contained 41 items, with seven sub categories.

Results: Overall stress score was highest among students of third-year followed by final year and second year students. Stress score was least among students of first year. Among different stressors stress of workload was highest among students, followed by performance pressure and patient treatment stressor. Social stressor was least present among undergraduate students.

Conclusion: Stress level was significantly high among undergraduate dental students, with third year being the most stressful year followed by final year. Workload stressor was highest among all stressors.

Keywords:Dental students, Stress level, Different Stressors