Mental Health in Physiotherapy Students During Internal Examination

Abstract

Stress is a complex dynamic process even in student life & physiotherapy students are not spared which may adversely affect academic achievements, personal well beings and long-term professional capabilities. Student’s stress is an established phenomenon worldwide. Stress is matter of perception, because not all are equally affected. Physiotherapy education is changing and educators are increasingly concerned about mental health. So, study was aimed to measure the current mental status with general health questionnaire during internal examination in physiotherapy students. Method: Descriptive study on 100 physiotherapy students appearing for internal exams who volunteered to participate in the survey based on a general health questionnaire (GHQ). GHQ-12 as suggested by GOLDBERG & WILLIAMS was used for measuring current mental health. GHQ focuses on two major areas, inability to carry out normal function and appearance of new and distressing experiences. Each item is rated on 4- point scale that is from 0-3 and the responses were taken from the respondent. Results: 22% students were not able to concentrate, 37% lost much of sleep over worry and 26% were unhappy or depressed, 14% losing confidence, 5% thinking of themselves as a worthless person. Conclusions: Students were Unhappy or depressed, losing confidence, feeling worthless and indicating poor mental health during internal exams.