Stressors and Coping Mechanisms Employed by Undergraduate Medical Students in a Nigerian University

Abstract

Background: Medical education, characterized by intense stress, is rated as one of the most difficult trainings. This stress can be  associated with consequences such as impaired academic performance and medical errors. The study assessed stressors medical  students in a Nigerian tertiary institution are exposed to and their coping strategies.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out from December 2021 to February 2023 among 611 undergraduate medical  students in the School of Medicine, University of Benin, Nigeria, using a stratified random sampling technique. Data were collected using  a semi-structured self-administered questionnaire adopting the brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (brief COPE) and the  Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4). Analysis was done using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 25 software, determining the frequency of  occurrence of each stressor using univariate analysis and calculating the mean and standard deviation of each coping strategy to determine the least and most used ones. Ethical clearance was obtained for the study.

Results: The mean age of the respondents was 22.9 (SD ± 3.1) years, 326 (53.4%) were males while 285 (46.6%) were females. They were exposed to a myriad of academic, environmental, psychosocial and health-related stressors with the presence of complications of stress  (depression; 17.0% and anxiety; 22.3%). Adaptive coping strategies most often employed were planning (5.01±1.90) active coping (4.99 ±  1.81) and religion (4.77± 2.07).

Conclusion: The undergraduate medical students are exposed to various stressors. A significant number of them had depression and  anxiety. Continuous use of adaptive coping strategies will mitigate the harmful consequences of stress.