Prevalence of stress and its effects on the physical and dental health of medical, dental, and engineering students in Lahore, Pakistan”

Abstract

Stress can contribute to or influence the development of psychological disorders like depression and anxiety, as well as physiological issues like high blood pressure and slow wound healing. Objectives: To find out the prevalence of stress and its oral and physical manifestations in medical, dental, and engineering students of Pakistan. Methods: This cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was carried out in Rashid Latif Medical Complex and Clapp trust Lahore, Pakistan. The study included 326 male and female students from medical, dentistry, and engineering universities. Results: The majority of them were females 68.7% as compared to males 31.3%. The mean age of the students was 21.9±4.17 years. The persistent headache had the highest frequency among physical problems due to stress with 84.5% of the participants responding. In a comparative analysis, the t-test showed gender to be significant for disturbed sleep, difficulty breathing persistent headaches, and muscular pains while the ANOVA test showed a significant association of age with weight gain, pain in TMJ, and ulcers in the oral cavity. Regression analysis showed a significant relationship between weight gain and age. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that the stress of studying is making students more susceptible to problems with their physical and oral health, which is lowering their quality of life.