Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 419 in total

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  1. Zuria Idura A.M., Noorlaili M.T., Rosdinom R., Azlin B.., Tuti Iryani M.D.
    MyJurnal
    Introduction: Caring for those with dementia affects the quality of life for both the caregivers and the patients themselves, particularly in the informal care system here in Malaysia. To date, only a few studies have explored from the family caregivers’ perspectives in the communities of different cultural background. The purpose of this study is to describe the Malaysian family caregivers’ perspectives of their experiences in providing care to for their family members suffering from moderate to severe dementia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Methods: This qualitative study involved in-depth individual interviews with twelve caregivers to patients with moderate to severe dementia. Participants were recruited via purposive sampling from the outpatient psycho-geriatric clinic at UKM Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Transcribed data was later analysed using a thematic approach. Results: Four themes identified in this study were; i) the feeling that ‘it is like caring for a baby’, ii) the caregivers’ perception of inadequate knowledge and skills, iii) the need for caregivers’ support system and iv) the importance of spirituality in enhancing care giving experiences. Conclusions: The framework of care shared by the caregivers in this study demonstrated strong cultural and spirituality influences in addition to the common issues of the challenges in managing the behavioural and psychological symptoms in people with dementia. Hence, culture and spirituality aspects should be addressed in the development of appropriate intervention to manage the needs of informal caregivers in this community.
    Matched MeSH terms: Stress, Psychological
  2. Zulkifli I, Che Norma MT, Chong CH, Loh TC
    Poult Sci, 2000 Mar;79(3):402-6.
    PMID: 10735209
    Stress and fear responses were evaluated in broiler chicks that were pretreated for 24 h with 0 ppm (control) or 1,200 ppm of L-ascorbic acid (AA) in their drinking water. The birds were subsequently subjected to either upright handling (UH) or inverted (IH) handling for about 45 s. Heterophil (H) counts, lymphocyte (L) counts, and H/L ratios (H/L) ratios were determined immediately (T0) and at 20 h (T20) following the handling treatment. The H/L ratios were similar for both groups at T0, whereas 20 h after the handling treatment, AA-supplemented birds had lower ratios than controls, resulting in a significant water treatment x time of blood sampling interaction. Inverted handling had negligible effect on H/L ratios but augmented tonic immobility (TI) durations as compared with UH. Irrespective of handling procedure, supplemental AA reduced underlying fearfulness, as measured by TI reaction. Neither water treatment nor handling method had significant effect on number of attempts to induce TI.
    Matched MeSH terms: Stress, Psychological
  3. Zirwatu Hanani, Wan Ahmad Wan Aslynn, Marina L. Alisaputri
    MyJurnal
    Introduction: Clinical studies have shown that people suffering from tinnitus are at a high risk of developing serious psychological disturbances or serious psychological distress (Erlandsson &
    Widen, 2004 in Hiller and Goebel, 1998). Thus the purpose of this study was to determine the
    relationship between life-time noise exposure and tinnitus experience among young adults in IIUM Kuantan. Methods: A cross sectional study was used to determine whether there is any association between tinnitus experiences and life-time noise exposure among 11 young adults in IIUM Kuantan from age of 18 to 35 years old who are exposed to the noise. Hearing assessment was done using otoscopy, tympanometry and pure tone audiometry. Participants were asked to fill in a questionnaire on tinnitus experience, and were fitted with a noise dosimeter that measured their noise exposure during waking hours. Values collected from dosimeter were then converted into cumulative life-time noise exposure which refers to the equivalent noise exposure per year (Jokitulppo, Tolvenen & Bjork, 2005). Results: Average cumulative life-time noise exposure of the participants is 72.54 dBA ± 6.9459. Fifty five percent (55%) reported of sometimes having tinnitus. No correlation was found between cumulative life-time noise exposure and tinnitus experience. Conclusion: The cumulative life-time noise exposure among young adults in IIUM Kuantan was found to be lower than the level considered as hazardous. Despite reports of tinnitus experience, there was no evidence that the tinnitus was due to noise exposure.
    Matched MeSH terms: Stress, Psychological
  4. Zhao S, Zhang J, Liu Y, Ji H, Lew B
    J Affect Disord, 2020 01 01;260:105-110.
    PMID: 31494361 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2019.09.006
    BACKGROUND: Previous research on the relationship between life satisfaction and its influencing factors has mainly focused on the work domain. Psychological strains, which result from these stress-related outcomes, have not been paid enough attention to explain how it correlates negatively with life satisfaction.

    METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted, using questionnaires sent to selected medical staff in a public hospital in Shandong, China (N = 1012). Multiple regression analysis was used to investigate how psychological strains influencing life satisfactions among medical staff.

    RESULTS: The findings indicate that aspiration strain and deprivation strain have significantly negative impact on medical staff's life satisfaction even with other variables controlled for. Weekly working hour was a significant predictor for life satisfaction. Family factors, such as marital status and kids in the family as well as social support were important factors in influencing individuals' life satisfaction.

    CONCLUSION: The current study highlights the negative associations between aspiration strain, deprivation strain and life satisfaction. The result underlines the importance of actions taken to prevent and combat psychological strains. It also provides some evidence for policy makers to improve the work environment for medical staff, such as reduce weekly working hours and enhance social support in order to increase medical staff's life satisfaction.

    Matched MeSH terms: Stress, Psychological/psychology*
  5. Zhang MWB, Ho RCM, Ng CG
    Technol Health Care, 2017 Dec 04;25(6):1173-1176.
    PMID: 28946598 DOI: 10.3233/THC-170868
    In psychiatry, mindfulness based intervention has been increasingly popular as a means of psychosocial intervention over the last decade. With the alvanche of technological advances, there has been a myriad of mindfulness based applications. Recent reviews have highlighted how these applications are lacking in functionalities and without demonstrated efficacy. Other reviews have emphasized that there is a need to take into consideration the design of an application, due to placebo effects. It is the aim of this technical note to illustrate how the 5-Minutes Mindfulness application, which is an application designed to provide mindfulness exercises to relieve distress and suffering amongst palliative patients, have been conceptualized. The conceptualized application builds on previous evidence of the efficacy of 5-Minutes Mindfulness demonstrated by pilot and randomized trials. In terms of design, the currently conceptualized application has been designed such that placebo effects could be controlled for.
    Matched MeSH terms: Stress, Psychological/therapy*
  6. Zamri EN, Moy FM, Hoe VC
    PLoS One, 2017;12(2):e0172195.
    PMID: 28234933 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0172195
    BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal pain is common among teachers. Work-related psychosocial factors are found to be associated with the development of musculoskeletal pain, however psychological distress may also play an important role.

    OBJECTIVES: To assess the prevalence of self-reported low back pain (LBP), and neck and/or shoulder pain (NSP) among secondary school teachers; and to evaluate the association of LBP and NSP with psychological distress and work-related psychosocial factors.

    METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among teachers in the state of Penang, Malaysia. The participants were recruited via a two stage sampling method. Information on demographic, psychological distress, work-related psychosocial factors, and musculoskeletal pain (LBP and NSP) in the past 12 months was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Poisson regression was used to estimate the prevalence ratio (PR) for the associations between psychological distress and work-related psychosocial factors with LBP and NSP.

    RESULTS: The prevalence of self-reported LBP and NSP among 1482 teachers in the past 12 months was 48.0% (95% Confidence Interval (CI) 45.2%, 50.9%) and 60.1% (95% CI 57.4%, 62.9%) respectively. From the multivariate analysis, self-reported LBP was associated with teachers who reported severe to extremely severe depression (PR: 1.71, 95% CI 1.25, 2.32), severe to extremely severe anxiety (1.46, 95% CI 1.22, 1.75), high psychological job demand (1.29, 95% CI 1.06, 1.57), low skill discretion (1.28, 95% CI 1.13, 1.47) and poorer mental health (0.98, 95% CI 0.97, 0.99). Self-reported NSP was associated with mild to moderate anxiety (1.18, 95% CI 1.06, 1.33), severe to extremely severe anxiety (1.25, 95% CI 1.09, 1.43), low supervisory support (1.13, 95% CI 1.03, 1.25) and poorer mental health (0.98, 95% CI 0.97, 0.99).

    CONCLUSIONS: Self-reported LBP and NSP were common among secondary school teachers. Interventions targeting psychological distress and work-related psychosocial characteristics may reduce musculoskeletal pain among school teachers.

    Matched MeSH terms: Stress, Psychological*
  7. Zakerian SA, Subramaniam ID
    Int J Occup Saf Ergon, 2009;15(4):425-34.
    PMID: 20003776
    Increasing numbers of workers use computer for work. So, especially among office workers, there is a high risk of musculoskeletal discomforts. This study examined the associations among 3 factors, psychosocial work factors, work stress and musculoskeletal discomforts. These associations were examined via a questionnaire survey on 30 office workers (at a university in Malaysia), whose jobs required an extensive use of computers. The questionnaire was distributed and collected daily for 20 days. While the results indicated a significant relationship among psychosocial work factors, work stress and musculoskeletal discomfort, 3 psychosocial work factors were found to be more important than others in both work stress and musculoskeletal discomfort: job demands, negative social interaction and computer-related problems. To further develop study design, it is necessary to investigate industrial and other workers who have experienced musculoskeletal discomforts and work stress.
    Matched MeSH terms: Stress, Psychological/psychology*
  8. Zainudeen ZT, Abd Hamid IJ, Azizuddin MNA, Abu Bakar FF, Sany S, Zolkepli IA, et al.
    BMJ Open, 2021 08 11;11(8):e050523.
    PMID: 34380732 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-050523
    OBJECTIVE: To investigate the psychosocial impact of COVID-19 on Malaysian families.

    DESIGN: A cross-sectional study performed using an anonymous online questionnaire distributed through social media, email and the Department of Social Welfare.

    SETTING: Malaysian families were invited to answer the questionnaires. The sampling was performed between 12 May 2020 and 9 June 2020.

    INTERVENTION: The psychological impact was assessed using the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES). The mental health status was assessed using the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) 21.

    MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: (1) Psychological impact on Malaysian families. (2) Prevalence of mental health status of Malaysian families during COVID-19 pandemic.

    RESULT: A total of 409 Malaysian families have responded (409 parents and 348 children), 154 respondents (38%) reported high psychological impact (score 14) for psychological construct and 189 respondents (46%) reported high psychological impact (score 6) for behavioural construct. A significantly higher proportion of respondents with not permanent employment status of the family lead reported high psychological impact. The prevalence of anxiety reported from family respondents was 23%. Forty-five children answered the DASS-21 questionnaire; 28.5% reported anxiety, 31.4% reported depression and 13.3% reported stress. The job security status of the family lead was found to be the predictive factor for the mean total IES-R score (psychological construct) and ethnicity for mean total CRIES-8 and CRIES-13.

    CONCLUSION: Rates of depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic were high. Findings suggest that urgent measures to ensure job security among Malaysian families are important to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychosocial and mental health outcomes.

    Matched MeSH terms: Stress, Psychological/epidemiology
  9. Zainol NA, Hashim HA
    Psychol Health Med, 2015;20(4):495-502.
    PMID: 25196807 DOI: 10.1080/13548506.2014.955034
    We examined the moderating effects of exercise habit strength on the relationship between emotional distress and short-term memory in primary school children.
    Matched MeSH terms: Stress, Psychological/psychology*
  10. Zainol Abidin AS, Rahim RA, Md Arshad MK, Fatin Nabilah MF, Voon CH, Tang TH, et al.
    Sensors (Basel), 2017 May 22;17(5).
    PMID: 28531146 DOI: 10.3390/s17051180
    Anxiety is a psychological problem that often emerges during the normal course of human life. The detection of anxiety often involves a physical exam and a self-reporting questionnaire. However, these approaches have limitations, as the data might lack reliability and consistency upon application to the same population over time. Furthermore, there might be varying understanding and interpretations of the particular question by the participant, which necessitating the approach of using biomarker-based measurement for stress diagnosis. The most prominent biomarker related to stress, hormone cortisol, plays a key role in the fight-or-flight situation, alters the immune response, and suppresses the digestive and the reproductive systems. We have taken the endeavour to review the available aptamer-based biosensor (aptasensor) for cortisol detection. The potential point-of-care diagnostic strategies that could be harnessed for the aptasensing of cortisol were also envisaged.
    Matched MeSH terms: Stress, Psychological
  11. Zainal NZ, Booth S, Huppert FA
    Psychooncology, 2013 Jul;22(7):1457-65.
    PMID: 22961994 DOI: 10.1002/pon.3171
    This study aims to investigate the evidence of the efficacy of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) in improving stress, depression and anxiety in breast cancer patients.
    Matched MeSH terms: Stress, Psychological/therapy*
  12. Zailinawati AH, Teng CL, Chung YC, Teow TL, Lee PN, Jagmohni KS
    Med J Malaysia, 2009 Jun;64(2):108-10.
    PMID: 20058567 MyJurnal
    Poor sleep quality and daytime somnolence is reported to be associated with cardiovascular events, road traffic accident, poor academic performance and psychological distress. Some studies documented that it is prevalent in most populations but its frequency among medical students has not been documented in Malaysia. This is a self-administered questionnaire survey of medical students from International Medical University, Malaysia. Daytime sleepiness of medical students was assessed using Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). Student scoring ESS > 11 was regarded as having excessive daytime sleepiness. Psychological distress was measured using 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). A total of 799 medical students participated in this survey (response rate 69.5%). Daytime sleepiness occurred in 35.5%, psychological distress was present in 41.8% and 16.1% reported bad sleep quality. Daytime sleepiness was significantly more common among the clinical students, those with self-reported bad sleep quality and psychological distress; but unrelated to the number of hours sleep at night. We have documented high prevalence of daytime sleepiness, poor sleep quality and psychological distress. Higher frequency among clinical students and the significant relationship with psychological distress suggest possible link to the stressful clinical training.
    Matched MeSH terms: Stress, Psychological/epidemiology
  13. Zaidi FZ, Lai MM, Jumaat A, Lee Y
    PMID: 36834173 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20043480
    This paper examines mindfulness as a costless cognitive asset in reducing stress and improving subjective well-being and psychological well-being among Malaysian bottom-forty-percent and middle-forty-percent income earners, known as B40 and M40, respectively. The participants recruited for this experimental study were divided into intervention and control groups and completed pre- and post-assessment questionnaires. The leveraging on digital technologies during pandemic times from May to June 2021 enabled participants in the intervention group (n = 95) to undergo four weekly online mindfulness intervention sessions through Google Meet and completed daily home mindfulness practices using the mobile application for mindfulness: the MindFi version 3.8.0 mobile app. Based on the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, the intervention group's mindfulness and well-being levels increased significantly after four weeks. This outcome contrasted to those in the control group (n = 31), who exhibited lower mindfulness and well-being levels. The PLS-SEM structural model consists of mindfulness as an independent variable, subjective and psychological well-being as dependent variables, and perceived stress and financial desire discrepancies as the mediators. This model has a goodness-of-fit of 0.076, proving that it is a fit and strong model. There is a positive relationship between mindfulness and subjective well-being (β = 0.162, p-value < 0.01). This model supports the mediation effect of perceived stress between mindfulness and subjective well-being variables (β = 0.152, p-value < 0.05). The overall structural model implies that the effectiveness of mindfulness intervention training not only enhanced bottom- and middle-income earners' well-being but also lowered the perceived stress level that, henceforth, brought the mind and body together in the present moment.
    Matched MeSH terms: Stress, Psychological/psychology
  14. Zafir, M.M., Fazilah, M.H.
    MyJurnal
    Stres di tempat kerja terjadi apabila keperluan kerja tidak sepadan dengan kebolehan, sumber, dan kehendak pekerja. Ia boleh memberi kesan ke atas psikologi dan fisiologi manusia. Seseorang individu yang berasa tertekan dengan kerja yang dilakukan akan menunjukkan kemurungan yang berpanjangan. Apabila rasa tertekan, psikologi akan terganggu dan pekerja gagal membuat keputusan dengan baik. Situasi ini boleh menjejaskan prestasi kerja mereka dan menggugat produktiviti organisasi. Masalah paling dibimbangi adalah stres di tempat kerja boleh menyebabkan penyakit berbahaya seperti tekanan darah tinggi, sakit jantung dan melemahkan sistem pertahanan badan terhadap penyakit. Stres di tempat kerja juga boleh menyebabkan kemalangan di tempat kerja, peningkatan kos keselamatan dan kesihatan pekerjaan, gangguan trauma kumulatif, menjejaskan prestasi kerja serta mengganggu kehidupan sosial individu. Masalah keselamatan dan kesihatan pekerjaan akibat stres di tempat kerja seharusnya tidak diabaikan oleh organisasi kerana ia boleh menyebabkan sumber manusia sesebuah negara kehilangan daya saingnya. Sumber manusia yang berasa terancam akibat masalah keselamatan dan kesihatan akan gagal menggunakan sepenuhnya kreativiti mereka dan melakukan tugas pada tahap minimum. Fenomena ini seharusnya dibimbangi dalam persekitaran perniagaan masa kini yang sangat kompetitif. Di Malaysia, kajian yang berkaitan dengan stres seharusnya dipertingkatkan kerana kajian lepas terhadap stres di tempat kerja adalah tidak menyeluruh. Perkembangan ini sejajar dengan perubahan yang berlaku di persekitaran kerja seperti teknologi, sosial, ekonomi, undang-undang buruh dan seumpamanya. Kajian stres di tempat kerja perlu dijalankan kerana sumbangannya amat bernilai dalam menghasilkan sumber manusia yang lebih produktif dan berdaya saing.
    Matched MeSH terms: Stress, Psychological*
  15. Zadeh-Ardabili PM, Rad SK, Rad SK, Movafagh A
    Sci Rep, 2019 Dec 27;9(1):19953.
    PMID: 31882885 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-56360-8
    Oxidative stress has significant role in pathophysiology of any kind of depression through actions of free radicals, non-radical molecules, and unbalancing antioxidant systems in body. In the current study, antidepressant responses of fish oil (FO), Neptune krill oil (NKO), vitamin B12 (Vit B12), and also imipramine (IMP) as the reference were studied. Natural light was employed to induce stress in the animals followed by oral administration of the drugs for 14 days. The antidepressant effect was assessed by tail suspension test (TST) and forced swimming test (FST), antioxidant enzymes and oxidative stress markers were then measured in the brain tissue of the animals. The administration of FO and NKO could significantly reduce the immobility of the animals; while, increasing climbing and swimming time compared to the normal saline in CUS-control group in TST and FST, similarly to IMP but not with Vit B12. Vit B12 could not effect on SOD activity and H2O2 level, but, cause decrease of the malondialdihydric (MDA) level and CAT activity, as well as increased the GPx and GSH activities. The rest treatments led to decrease of MDA, H2O2 levels and CAT activity and increase of GPx, SOD, GSH activities.
    Matched MeSH terms: Stress, Psychological
  16. Yusuf A, Ahmad Z, Keng SL
    Asian Pac J Cancer Prev, 2013;14(1):435-40.
    PMID: 23534769
    BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death among women in Malaysia. A diagnosis is very stressful for women, affecting all aspects of their being and quality of life. As such, there is little information on quality of life of women with breast cancer across the different ethnic groups in Malaysia. The purpose of this study was to examine the quality of life in Malay and Chinese women newly diagnosed with breast cancer in Kelantan.

    MATERIALS AND METHODS: A descriptive study involved 58 Malays and 15 Chinese women newly diagnosed with breast cancer prior to treatment. Quality of life was measured using the Malay version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) and its breast-specific module (QLQ-BR23). Socio-demographic and clinical data were also collected. All the data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0.

    RESULTS: Most of the women were married with at least a secondary education and were in late stages of breast cancer. The Malay women had lower incomes (p=0.046) and more children (p=0.001) when compared to the Chinese women. Generally, both the Malay and Chinese women had good functioning quality-of-life scores [mean score range: 60.3-84.8 (Malays); 65.0-91.1 (Chinese)] and global quality of life [mean score 60.3, SD 22.2 (Malays); mean score 65.0, SD 26.6 (Chinese)]. The Malay women experienced more symptoms such as nausea and vomiting (p=0.002), dyspnoea (p=0.004), constipation (p<0.001) and breast-specific symptoms (p=0.041) when compared to the Chinese.

    CONCLUSIONS: Quality of life was satisfactory in both Malays and Chinese women newly diagnosed with breast cancer in Kelantan. However, Malay women had a lower quality of life due to high general as well as breast-specific symptoms. This study finding underlined the importance of measuring quality of life in the newly diagnosed breast cancer patient, as it will provide a broader picture on how a cancer diagnosis impacts multi-ethnic patients. Once health care professionals understand this, they might then be able to determine how to best support and improve the quality of life of these women during the difficult times of their disease and on-going cancer treatments.

    Matched MeSH terms: Stress, Psychological/ethnology*
  17. Yusoff MSB, Hadie SNH, Yasin MAM
    BMC Med Educ, 2021 May 22;21(1):293.
    PMID: 34022865 DOI: 10.1186/s12909-021-02733-5
    BACKGROUND: Stress and burnout commonly threaten the mental health of medical students in Malaysia and elsewhere. This study aimed to explore the interrelations of psychological distress, emotional intelligence, personality traits, academic stress, and burnout among medical students.

    METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 241 medical students. Validated questionnaires were administered to measure burnout, psychological distress, emotional intelligence, personality traits, and academic stress, respectively. A structural equation modelling analysis was performed by AMOS.

    RESULTS: The results suggested a structural model with good fit indices, in which psychological distress and academic stress were noted to have direct and indirect effects on burnout. The burnout levels significantly increased with the rise of psychological distress and academic stress. Neuroticism was only found to have significant indirect effects on burnout, whereby burnout increased when neuroticism increased. Emotional intelligence had a significant direct effect on lowering burnout with the incremental increase of emotional intelligence, but it was significantly reduced by psychological distress and neuroticism.

    CONCLUSION: This study showed significant effects that psychological distress, emotional intelligence, academic stress, and neuroticism have on burnout. Academic stress and neuroticism significantly increased psychological distress, leading to an increased burnout level, while emotional intelligence had a significant direct effect on reducing burnout; however, this relationship was compromised by psychological distress and neuroticism, leading to increased burnout. Several practical recommendations for medical educators, medical students, and medical schools are discussed.

    Matched MeSH terms: Stress, Psychological/epidemiology
  18. Yusoff MSB
    MyJurnal
    Introduction: Detecting sources of stress of medical students is important for planning wellness
    program to improve their psychological wellbeing. One of instruments to detect the sources of stress
    is the Medical Student Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ). A systematic review was performed to find
    out evidence to support its validity in term of content, response process, internal structure, relation
    to other variables, and consequences. Method: The author planned, conducted and reported this
    study according to PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses)
    standard of quality for reporting meta-analyses. Systematic search was performed on EBSCOhost,
    Scopus, Proquest, PubMed, Web of Science and Google Scholar databases. Result: The author
    yielded 613 relevant articles based on search terms, 44 articles had used MSSQ, and after critical
    appraisal, only 18 articles provided evidence to support validity MSSQ and thus were included in
    the systematic review. Conclusion: This systematic review supports the validity of MSSQ in relation
    to content, response process, internal structure, relations to other variables, and consequences of
    its scores. MSSQ is a valid tool to detect sources of stress in medical students and its results can be
    utilised as a guide to plan wellness program or intervention to improve medical students’ wellbeing.
    Matched MeSH terms: Stress, Psychological*
  19. Yusoff MS, Esa AR, Mat Pa MN, Mey SC, Aziz RA, Abdul Rahim AF
    Educ Health (Abingdon), 2013 Jan-Apr;26(1):39-47.
    PMID: 23823672 DOI: 10.4103/1357-6283.112800
    CONTEXT: There is considerable evidence that emotional intelligence, previous academic achievement (i.e. cumulative grade point average (GPA)) and personality are associated with success in various occupational settings. This study evaluated the relationships of these variables with psychological health of first year medical students during stressful periods.
    METHODS: A 1-year prospective study was done with students accepted into the School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Information on emotional intelligence, GPA and personality traits were obtained prior to admission. The validated Universiti Sains Malaysia Emotional Quotient Inventory and Universiti Sains Malaysia Personality Inventory were used to measure emotional intelligence and personality traits, respectively. Stress, anxiety and depression were measured by the 21-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scale during the end-of-course (time 1) and final (time 2) examinations.
    RESULTS: At the less stressful period (time 1), stress level was associated with agreeableness and the final GPA, anxiety level was associated with emotional control and emotional conscientiousness and depression level was associated with the final GPA and extraversion. At the more stressful period (time 2), neuroticism associated with stress level, anxiety level was associated with neuroticism and emotional expression, and depression level was associated with neuroticism.
    CONCLUSIONS: This study found that neuroticism was the strongest associated factor of psychological health of medical students during their most stressful testing period. Various personality traits, emotional intelligence and previous academic performance were associated factors of psychological health during a less stressful period. These data suggest that early identification of medical students who are vulnerable to the stressful environment of medical schools might help them maintain psychological well-being during medical training.
    Matched MeSH terms: Stress, Psychological/etiology; Stress, Psychological/psychology*
  20. Yusoff MS, Abdul Rahim AF, Baba AA, Ismail SB, Mat Pa MN, Esa AR
    Psychol Health Med, 2013;18(4):420-30.
    PMID: 23140393 DOI: 10.1080/13548506.2012.740162
    Many studies have shown that the prevalence of psychological distress among medical students during medical training is higher than that in general population. A few studies have shown that the prevalence of psychological distress among medical students before the onset of medical training was similar to general population. This study aimed to investigate psychological health of medical students before and during medical training. A one-year prospective study was done on successful applicants who undergo the first year of medical training for 2010/2011 academic session. The stress, anxiety and depression were measured by the DASS-21 at five intervals; during interview (Time 0), two months (Time 1), four months (Time 2), six months (Time 3) and final examination (Time 4) of the first year medical training. The prevalence of unfavourable stress, anxiety and depression before the onset of medical training was 4.1%, 55.6% and 1.8%, respectively. The prevalence of unfavourable stress during medical training ranged between 11.8% and 19.9%. The prevalence of anxiety during medical training ranged between 41.1% and 56.7%. The prevalence of depression during medical training ranged between 12% and 30%. Mean scores of stress and depression before (Time 0) and during medical training (Time 1-4) were significantly different (p stress and depression during medical training were significantly higher than before the onset medical training. This study supports views that medical training is not an optimal environment to psychological health of medical students.
    Matched MeSH terms: Stress, Psychological/epidemiology*
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