Department of Biopharmaceutics and Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.
Saudi Pharm J. 2013 Jan;21(1):35-44. doi: 10.1016/j.jsps.2012.02.006. Epub 2012 Mar 7.
Stress in health sciences students has been studied extensively. Nevertheless, only few studies have been conducted on pharmacy students and nothing was done to compare stress effects on the immune responses of Pharmacy and Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students. The aim of this pilot study was (1) to measure the self-reported perceived stresses, immune-related diseases and health outcomes of pharmacy and PharmD students, (2) to investigate the relationship between perceived stresses, health outcomes and immune-related diseases and (3) to compare stress induced changes in the health and immune system of pharmacy and PharmD students. The study represents a cross sectional survey using an interviewer administered questionnaire about stress and students' health states during the fall semester of 2009/2010. At commence of this study, 222 of pharmacy and PharmD participant students (113 and 109 respectively) from the third and uppermost levels of study were picked up randomly. They were found to perceive stress related to program intensity, lack of exercise and social activities, bad nutritional routines and accommodation. Effects of increased study loads on students' health and immune-related diseases were more pronounced on PharmD students, while showing significant changes on Pharmacy students. In general, more than 50% of students of each program got ill several times, mainly during the midterm period, had cold/flu, were under medical care and had problems in skin and/or hair. Also, PharmD students reported relatively higher levels of perceived stress and lower emotional and satisfaction quality of life compared to Pharmacy students. Results may help to increase the awareness of students to get prepared to what they might face, and may enable them to reduce the program's negative effects.
健康科学专业学生的压力已得到广泛研究。然而，只有少数研究针对药学专业学生进行，且并未针对药学专业和药学博士（PharmD）学生的免疫反应压力影响进行比较。本初步研究的目的是：（1）测量药学和 PharmD 学生的自我报告感知压力、与免疫相关的疾病和健康结果；（2）调查感知压力、健康结果和与免疫相关的疾病之间的关系；（3）比较药学和 PharmD 学生的压力对健康和免疫系统的诱导变化。本研究采用问卷调查，在 2009/2010 年秋季学期，对学生的压力和健康状况进行了横断面调查。在本研究开始时，随机挑选了药学和 PharmD 专业第三年及最高年级的 222 名学生（分别为 113 名和 109 名）参加。研究发现，学生们感知到与课程强度、缺乏运动和社交活动、不良的营养习惯和住宿有关的压力。增加学习负担对 PharmD 学生的健康和与免疫相关的疾病的影响更为明显，而对药学学生的影响则更为显著。总体而言，每个专业的学生中，超过 50%的学生多次生病，主要是在期中考试期间，患有感冒/流感，接受医疗护理，并出现皮肤和/或头发问题。此外，PharmD 学生报告的感知压力相对较高，情绪和满意度生活质量较低。研究结果可能有助于提高学生的意识，使他们为可能面临的问题做好准备，并帮助他们减轻课程的负面影响。
