• 19 Prevalence of stress among medical students in Jizan University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Sani M 1 , Mahfouz MS 1 , Bani I 1 , Alsomily AH 2 , Alagi D 2 , Alsomily NY 2 , Madkhaly FM 2 , Madkhali R 2 , Hakami AAM 2 , Hakami A 2 , Shaqraa Shaabi 2 , Al Ebrahim S 2 , Mashiakhi SH 2 , Ageel B, Asiri S 2 1 Faculty of Medicine; 2 Medical students, University of Jizan, Jizan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Correspondence: Dr. Mubarack Sani, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jizan, Jizan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. email: .drmubaracksani@gmail.com INTRODUCTION Stress and its psychological manifestations are inherent in human life and are a major source of concern in the modern day society. Stress in individuals is defined as anything that disrupts the normal person’s physical or mental wellbeing. It arises due to the inability of an individual to meet the demands made on him. A mild form of stress may manifest as a bad mood while an extreme one may lead to an act of violence, burnout or suicide. As per World Health Organization, a stressor is any stimulus which evokes a stress response. Stressors may be real or imagined, and internal or external. The overall impact of a stressor will depend on its features and the characteristics of those who have been affected. The perceived ABSTRACT Objective: Stress and its psychological manifestations are inherent in human life and are a major source of concern in the modern day society. Medical education poses many new, challenging and potentially threatening situational demands for the students throughout the world. This cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence and the factors associated with stress among medical students at Jizan University in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: Fifty percent of the medical students representing all years of study in both male and female colleges participated in the study, which was conducted using the GHQ 20 questionnaire to assess the level of stress. The prevalence of stress was analyzed on the basis of gender, academic year, BMI, education level of parents, occupation of parents, place of residence, type of residence, number of siblings, and with whom the students were living. Descriptive statistics were used for summarizing the outcome variables and appropriate test procedures used to test for trend and for quantifying the outcome variables. Results: The prevalence of stress among medical students was 71.9%, with females being more stressed (77%) than the males (64%). There was a statistically significant association between stress and gender (p<0.01, odds ratio 1.89 CI 1.20 – 2.90). Parents’ education level or occupation, ownership of house, type of residence, number of siblings, whether living with parents, place of residence, mode of travel to the college, time taken to reach college, marital status and epidemiological factors other than those related to academic issues were not associated with stress. Perceived sleeping problems (p<0.01, odds ratio 0.289, C.I- 0.172 – 0.487) and waking time in the morning (p<0.05, odds ratio 0.549, C.I -0.304 – 0.993) showed a statistically significant association with stress. The major factor associated with perceived stress was long hours of study. Examinations and very tight time schedules were the other factors identified. Psychological and family issues, lack of entertainment in the campus and the education system itself were other stressors for the medical students. Conclusion: Stress was prevalent in approximately three fourths of the study group, with a preponderance among the females. Implementing effective changes in the curriculum to make it more student-friendly should receive priority in addressing this high prevalence of stress among medical students. Key words: stress prevalence, stress factors, medical education, Saudi Arabia Citation Sani M, Mahfouz MS, Bani I, Alsomily AH, Alagi D, Alsomily NY, et al. Prevalence of stress among medical students in Jizan University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Gulf Medical Journal. 2012;1(1):19-25.