Medical students face a lot of academic stress during their period of professional training; if this stress is severe it can have a negative effect on the academic performance of students. Reaction time (RT) is a simple and noninvasive test which can be used to assess central and peripheral neural structures. The aim of the present study was to assess the level of stress in first year undergraduate MBBS medical students during their routine normal academic schedule and secondarily during period of increased mental stress when they were appearing for practical exam. The   reaction time was also measured during routine normal academic schedule days and again during practical exam time to assess the effect of mental stress on reaction time. For assessment of stress STAI (Y1)– Speilberger’s State Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults (STAI-A) FORM Y- 1 questionnaire was used. Visual reaction time (VRT) was assessed by online reaction time test. We have observed a high score of mental stress in medical students which was even further increased statistically when the students faced examination stress (P <0.001). Comparison of VRT between the study groups in situation of normal academic schedule and during practical exam stress showed VRT significantly reduced (p< 0.001) during period of mental stress. We conclude that medical students face a lot of academic anxiety which is increased even further during examination days. This necessitates intervention measures so that students can learn to cope with the pressure induced by medical education.

Keywords: Medical students, stress, VRT, STAI-1

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Dr Shikha Gautam

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