Mujinya Regan, Kalange Muhamudu, Ochieng Juma John, Ninsiima Herbert Izo, Eze Ejike Daniel, Afodun Adam Moyosore, Nabirumbi Ritah, Sulaiman Sheu Oluwadare, Kairania Emmanuel, Echoru Isaac, Okpanachi Alfred Omachonu, Matama Kevin, Asiimwe Oscar Hilary, Nambuya Grace, Usman Ibe Michael, Obado Osuwat Lawrence, Zirintunda Gerald, Ssempijja Fred, Nansunga Miriam, Matovu Henry, Ayikobua Emmanuel Tiyo, Nganda Ponsiano Ernest, Onanyang David, Ekou Justine, Musinguzi Simon Peter, Ssimbwa Godfrey, Kasozi Keneth Iceland
Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Kampala International University Western Campus, Bushenyi, Uganda.
School of Medicine, Kabale University, Kabale, Uganda.
Front Psychiatry. 2022 Jun 10;13:551508. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.551508. eCollection 2022.
Stress among medical students is related to their academic lifespan; however, information on brain health among medical students from developing countries continues to be scarce. The objective of this study was to establish perceived academic stress levels, assess the ability to cope with stress, and investigate its effects on the visual reaction time (VRT), audio reaction time (ART), and tactile reaction time (TRT) in the somatosensory cortex among medical students of Uganda.
This was a cross-sectional study conducted among preclinical ( = 88) and clinical ( = 96) undergraduate medical students at Kampala International University Western Campus. A standard Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) was used to categorize stress into low, moderate, and severe while the ability to cope with stress was categorized into below average, average, above average, and superior stresscoper (SS). Data on reaction time were acquired through VRT, ART, and TRT using the catch-a-ruler experiment, and this was analyzed using SPSS version 20.
This study shows that preclinical students are more stressed than clinical students (PSS prevalence for low stress = preclinical; clinical: 40, 60%). Moderate stress was 48.4 and 51.6% while high perceived stress was 75 and 25% among preclinical and clinical students. Among male and female students in preclinical years, higher TRT and VRT were found in clinical students showing that stress affects the tactile and visual cortical areas in the brain, although the VRT scores were only significantly ( = 0.0123) poor in male students than female students in biomedical sciences. Also, highly stressed individuals had higher TRT and ART and low VRT. SS had high VRT and ART and low TRT in preclinical students, demonstrating the importance of the visual cortex in stress plasticity. Multiple regression showed a close relationship between PSS, ability to cope with stress, age, and educational level ( < 0.05), demonstrating the importance of social and psychological support, especially in the biomedical sciences.
Preclinical students suffer more from stress and are poorer SS than clinical students. This strongly impairs their cortical regions in the brain, thus affecting their academic productivity.
医学生的压力与他们的学业生涯相关；然而，关于发展中国家医学生大脑健康的信息仍然匮乏。本研究的目的是确定感知到的学业压力水平，评估应对压力的能力，并调查其对乌干达医学生体感皮层中视觉反应时间（VRT）、听觉反应时间（ART）和触觉反应时间（TRT）的影响。
这是一项在坎帕拉国际大学西校区的临床前（n = 88）和临床（n = 96）本科医学生中进行的横断面研究。使用标准的感知压力量表（PSS）将压力分为低、中、高三个等级，而应对压力的能力分为低于平均水平、平均水平、高于平均水平和优秀压力应对者（SS）。通过使用抓尺子实验的VRT、ART和TRT获取反应时间数据，并使用SPSS 20版进行分析。
本研究表明，临床前学生比临床学生压力更大（低压力的PSS患病率 = 临床前；临床：40%，60%）。临床前和临床学生中，中度压力分别为48.4%和51.6%，而高感知压力分别为75%和25%。在临床前年级的男女生中，临床学生的TRT和VRT更高，这表明压力会影响大脑中的触觉和视觉皮层区域，尽管在生物医学科学专业中，男生的VRT得分仅比女生显著（P = 0.0123）差。此外，高压力个体的TRT和ART较高，VRT较低。在临床前学生中，SS的VRT和ART较高，TRT较低，这表明视觉皮层在压力可塑性中的重要性。多元回归显示PSS、应对压力的能力、年龄和教育水平之间存在密切关系（P < 0.05），这表明社会和心理支持的重要性，特别是在生物医学科学领域。
临床前学生比临床学生承受更多压力，且作为压力应对者的表现更差。这严重损害了他们大脑中的皮层区域，从而影响他们的学业成绩。
