Comparison of physical fitness and mental stress in exercising and non-exercising medical students

Objective. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between physical fitness, lifestyle, and academic performance of Chinese college students and investigate the differences among medical and dental students on their lifestyle. Methods. This study was conducted with 316 students enrolled from 2012 to 2014 at Tongji University. Scores from the college physical test were used to represent the students’ physical fitness condition. Lifestyle was measured by some variables extracted from the students’ behavior data provided by the university’s information center. Academic performance was measured by the average score of basic courses and the average score of professional courses. Demographic information, including age, gender, nation, and family background, was also obtained. Separate multiple linear regression analysis was performed for modeling academic performance and physical fitness with a p value threshold of 0.05. Results. A total of 212 (45.97% females) medical students and 104 (58.65% females) dental students participated in this study. Physical fitness score (medical: r = 0.34, p<0.001; dental: r = 0.47, p<0.001), library visiting frequency (medical: r = 0.30, p<0.001; dental: r = 0.62, p<0.001), number of books borrowed (medical: r = 0.19, p<0.01; dental: r = 0.37, p<0.001), frequency of waking up early (medical: r = 0.29, p<0.001; dental: r = −0.30, p<0.01), and times of eating breakfast (medical: r = 0.49, p<0.001; dental: r = 0.47, p<0.001) were all significantly associated with academic performance. Library visiting frequency (medical: r = 0.26, p<0.001; dental: r = 0.41, p<0.001) and eating frequency (medical: r = 0.48, p<0.001; dental: r = 0.42, p<0.001) were also closely related with physical fitness. Conclusion. Physical fitness, library usage, and the regularity of lifestyle are significant contributors to academic performance among Chinese medical and dental students. Moreover, medical students are shown to have less rest time compared to dental students.

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Determination of Physical Fitness Index in First Year Medical Students by Harvard Step Test

International Journal of Physiology ◽

10.5958/2320-608x.2014.00001.8 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 1

Author(s):

Minati Mohapatra ◽

Sanjeev Satpathy ◽

Rama Raman Mohanty

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Physical Fitness ◽

Step Test ◽

First Year ◽

Fitness Index ◽

First Year Medical Students

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Evaluation of Physical Fitness Profile of Medical Students

Annals of International medical and Dental Research ◽

10.21276/aimdr.2017.3.3.ph2 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 3 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Hitendra Gupta ◽

Anita Motiani ◽

Jyoti Dwivedi

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Physical Fitness

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Impact of COVID-19 on medical students’ mental wellbeing in Jordan

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0253295 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (6) ◽

pp. e0253295

Author(s):

Khaled Seetan ◽

Mohammad Al-Zubi ◽

Yousef Rubbai ◽

Mohammad Athamneh ◽

Almu’atasim Khamees ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Physical Fitness ◽

Social Relationships ◽

Online Survey ◽

Psychological Impact ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Mental Wellbeing ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Data Assessment ◽

The Impact

COVID-19 has spread throughout the world and has resulted in significant morbidity, mortality, and negative psychological impact. This prospective cross-sectional study is exploring the effect of the pandemic on mental health of medical students. The study was conducted at six Jordanian medical schools using an online survey to collect students’ socio-demographic and academic data. Assessment of mental wellbeing status was done using Kessler’s psychological stress scale (K10); the impact of COVID-19 on life activities and strategies followed to manage the situation were also examined. A total of 553 medical students were recruited for the study. Men constituted 40.1%, and women were 59.9%. Students reported that COVID-19 has affected the aspects of physical fitness (73.1%), study (68.4%), and social relationships (65.6%) the most. Sixty-six percent of the students were concerned about family members’ affection, and more than half (58.4%) explained their concerns about the inability to get clinical sessions and labs. Cooking, baking, and hobby practicing were the most popular methods to improve their mental wellbeing. About half of the participants had a severe mental disorder, and only 13.2% were likely to be well. The study indicates that half of our medical students suffer severe mental disorders, with physical fitness, exercise, and studying being among the most affected aspects during the COVID 19 pandemic. It is recommended that measures need be taken to alleviate students’ stress, which might have deleterious effects in many aspects.

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TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF EXERCISE ON PHYSICAL FITNESS OF HEALTHY MEDICAL STUDENTS AND TRAINED ATHLETES USING STEP TEST.

10.36106/ijar/5209034 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-2

Author(s):

Rituparna Bora ◽

Utpal Dutta

Keyword(s):

Young Adults ◽

Medical Students ◽

Physical Fitness ◽

Stress Test ◽

Exercise Stress Test ◽

Mean Value ◽

Healthy Adults ◽

Exercise Stress ◽

Step Test ◽

P Value

INTRODUCTION : Physical fitness implies the ability to make adequate physiological adjustments to the stresses imposed by a specific task. Good cardiorespiratory function is reflected by the ability to deliver oxygen to the tissues to maintain continuous activity. MATERIALS AND METHODS : The present study was carried out to study the effect of exercise on the physical fitness of healthy young adults. Exercise stress test was done by Harvard step test. Study population comprised of 100 young adults with subset of 50 trained athletes and 50 sedentary healthy adults. The parameter for measuring Physical fitness was Physical Fitness Index. RESULTS: Mean value of PFI in trained athletes and sedentary healthy adults were 85.42 and 72.79 respectively i.e., mean value of PFI is higher in trained than sedentary group. This is statistically highly significant (P value < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The study reveals that physical fitness is high in trained athletes than the untrained group. There is a need for inclusion of regular exercise in medical students to attain high level of physical fitness.

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The physical fitness of first-year osteopathic medical students

The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association ◽

10.1515/jom-1992-920313 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 92 (3) ◽

pp. 327-333

Author(s):

John C. Licciardone ◽

R. Donald Hagan

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Physical Fitness ◽

First Year

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Influence of acute mental stress on blood pressure, heart rate and heart rate variability in male medical students: An experimental study from tertiary care hospital, Nepal

Journal of Biomedical Sciences ◽

10.3126/jbs.v7i1.29848 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 11-17

Author(s):

Karishma Rajbhandari Pandey ◽

Rita Khadka ◽

Dipesh Raj Panday ◽

Kopila Agrawal ◽

Bishnu Hari Paudel

Keyword(s):

Heart Rate ◽

Heart Rate Variability ◽

Medical Students ◽

Mental Stress ◽

Cardiovascular Health ◽

Tertiary Care ◽

Young Male ◽

Care Hospital ◽

Autonomic Tone ◽

Nervous Control

Background: Medical students experience immense mental stress while understanding and retaining new terms, drug names and mechanisms and eventually generating a concept. Such stress, in long run, may affect their cardiovascular health. This can be assessed by heart rate variability, a reliable non-penetrating tool to determine the cardiac autonomic tone. Material and methods: Thirty healthy young male medical students of BPKIHS, Nepal of age 21.03 ± 1.73 years, and BMI 20.83 ± 2.07 kg/m2 were recruited for the present study. Their resting BP, HR, RR, and short-term heart rate variability (HRV) were recorded in sitting position. Each subject was given a mental stress for 5 min. Their BP, HR, and RR were recorded at 5th min of mental stress. HRV of 5 min was also recorded simultaneously during mental stress. Results: Mental stress increased SBP (p=0.001), DBP (p= 0.001), PR (p= 0.005) and RR (p= 0.042) in young male medical students. Time domain measures of HRV viz; RMSSD (p= 0.001), NN50 (p= 0.001) and PNN50 (p=0.001), which are markers of parasympathetic activity, were significantly decreased during mental stress. Conclusion: Acute mental stress increases BP and HR by withdrawing parasympathetic nervous control in young, healthy male medical students.

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