Perceived sources of stress in fifth year dental students - a comparative study

Abstract

Introduction: The term “stress” refers to the effect of certain external factors (physical or mental) on the individual’s physical and psychological health. Stress is very high in dental medicine. It may well be generated by the process of training in dentistry. During their training dental students express high levels of stress and considerable stress-related symptoms such as physical problems, depression, obsessive-compulsive and personality disorders. The perceived stress can be dependent on socio-cultural factors. The type of personality, gender, emotional intelligence and other individual characteristics may also influence the stress effects. Aim: To determine the main sources of stress in students during their dental training and compare the level of stress fifth-year dental students experience in the Faculty of Dental Medicine, Plovdiv, Bulgaria and the Faculty of Dentistry in Montpellier, France. Methods: We recruited in the study fifth-year students from the Faculty of Dental Medicine in Plovdiv, Bulgaria and the Faculty of Dentistry in Montpellier, France. The modified Dental Environment Stress (DES) questionnaire was used to assess the effect of the various stressors. The questionnaire survey was conducted between February and March 2008. Results: The living arrangements domain indicates higher levels of stress in Bulgarian students compared to their French counterparts with significant statistical difference for all factors. In personal factors the highest levels of stress were found with respect to the reduced holidays during school year and financial problems. Exams were the highest stressor in academic work domain and for the survey as a whole. In educational environment factors the stressors with the highest significance were the interactions with patients, academic environment (for French students) and risk of cross transmitted infections (for Bulgarian students). The high stress during clinical work is related to completing the assigned clinical workload quota and the shortage of time for clinical work. Conclusions: The students from both faculties report the highest mean levels of stress are related to examinations and clinical factors. Bulgarian students experienced higher mean levels of stress compared to their French colleges. The differences in mean stress levels are associated with socio-cultural factors and variations in educational curriculums at both dental faculties.

<p>Psychological Stress and Stressors Among Clinical Dental Students at Shiraz School of Dentistry, Iran</p>

“…The fifth-year students are mainly concerned about the accuracy of clinical decisions that causes stress during clinical practice. 26 The stress reduction in the sixth-year students compared with the fifth-year students in almost all domains is potentially due to the fact that final-year students have obtained more experience and skills in clinical work. Furthermore, as the results revealed, the third-year students had the second highest stress scores.…”

Perceived stress among French dental students and their opinion about education curriculum and pedagogy

“…According to the first aim of this study, we found that the predominant stress factors were “the quantity of tasks to perform in clinical practice,” “the waiting time before opinion from teachers,” “the administrative part,” “recurrent computer problems,” “insufficient clinical treatment time,” and “the examinations.” Most of these items are known to be stressful, notably “the quantity of tasks to perform in clinical practice,” “insufficient clinical treatment time,” and “the examinations.”[ 24 25 26 ]…”

A Five-year Comparative Study of Perceived Stress Among Dental Students at Two European Faculties

“…Factors like 'examinations' and 'compliance of patients' showed the highest scores for stress, which is in accordance with most studies. 15,16,19,25 The score for 'Examinations' in Montpellier was 3.0 (1.31) and in Plovdiv: 3.6 (1.43); compared to 3.29 in Jordanian in 2005. 15 However, stress from 'Examinations' did significantly decrease between 2011 and 2016 in both towns, while the stress from 'compliance of patients' significantly decreased only in Plovdiv.…”

“…15 To reduce the stress level of academic work and the clinical education of dental students could be an important point to improve the efficacy and the quality of the student work. 19,20 The stress management programs reported in the literature for dental students were limited, and included self-hypnosis, meditation, mindfulness-based stress reduction, changes in the 'pass/fail' grading system, feedback on various health habits, educational discussion, and changes in the length and type of curriculum provided. 1,8,21,22 Alternative methods of education and examination such as interactive methods, could be considered in order to reduce the stress during theoretical exams.…”

“…Several studies aiming to compare the level of stress of dental students between different European countries have been previously reported. [18][19][20] However, most of these studies are cross-sectional so that variations over-time are unknown.…”