Gender Differences in Test Anxiety and Academic Performance of Medical Students

Introduction: Exams are a relatively stressful period for all students, especially undergraduate medical students. Exams bring anxiety and stress for the students. Some students experience such high stress that it hinders their academic productivity and reduces their exam performance. The aim of this study is to assess the effects of pre-exam anxiety on the academic performance of medical students. Methods: Two hundred and twenty-five final year medical students completed Westside Test Anxiety (WTA) Scale one month before their exams. Grade Point Average (GPA) of these students was noted when the results were announced. Data was processed and analyzed using SPSS v 22.0Results: The mean anxiety score on WTA scale was 3.46 ± 0.87. All students (100%) who scored ≤ 2.50 GPA were highly-extremely highly anxious. In the 2.51-3.00 GPA group, 46% were highly-extremely highly anxious, 32% were moderately anxious, and 21% had low to normal anxiety. In the 3.01-3.50 GPA group, 30% were highly-extremely highly anxious, 30% were moderately anxious, and 39% had low to normal anxiety. In the 3.51-4.00 GPA group, 29% were highly-extremely highly anxious, 23% were moderately anxious, and 47% had low to normal anxiety. The correlation coefficient between GPA and test anxiety of students was -.314 which shows inverse relationship.Conclusion: Pre-exam anxiety and stress imparts negative effects on the exam performance of final year medical students. Poor academic performance was associated with high to extremely high pre-exam anxiety while high achievers had relatively lower anxiety levels.

Download Full-text

Does test anxiety and gender have an impact on OSCE Performance among medical students?

10.5742/mewfm.2021.94165 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 20 (11) ◽

Author(s):

Farzana Rizwan Arain

Keyword(s):

Academic Performance ◽

Medical Students ◽

Test Anxiety ◽

Pearson Correlation ◽

P Value ◽

Sample Population ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Medical College ◽

Study Results

Objective: to determine the association of test anxiety on OSCE performance of medical students in Taif Medical College. Study Design: The survey research design was used to conduct the research. Place and Duration of study: This was a comparative cross sectional study conducted on the 3rd, 4thand 5th year medical students in Taif Medical College of Taif University KSA. Materials & Methods: A ten item questionnaire developed by Nist and Diehl (1990) for determining mild or severe levels of TA experienced by students was used in the study. Results: A total of 518 students participated in the survey. The majority of the sample population was male 319 (61%) and 199 (39%) were females. Our results showed that a greater proportion (21%) of the male students, as compared to their counterparts, were in the group having high level of anxiety during test. It was observed that the 3rd year students performed poorly on TA and scored high on the scale. The difference observed in proportions was also statistically significant (Chi square 65.97, p value 0.000001). There was a significant negative correlation between the test anxiety and students performance in oral structured examination (OSCE). Pearson correlation coefficient of -0.45 and a p value < 0.0001 was observed. Conclusion: We conclude that test anxiety is experienced by a large number of undergraduate medical students of Taif Medical University. Anxiety has a negative effect on overall academic performance; female students were also more affected compared to their male counterparts. Key Words: Test anxiety, gender, medical students, academic performance

Download Full-text