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Original Research ArticlesPeer-reviewedOpen Access · CC BY 4.0

PREVALENCE OF STRESS AND ITS CORRELATION WITH COGNITION AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS

Subhashri Soundirarajan 1, Tamilselvan Kuppusamy 2, Mathan kaliaperumal 3, Perumal Manoharan 4, Jothi Marie Feula 5

  1. 1 Department of Physiology, Tagore Medical college and hospital, Chennai, India (corresponding author)
  2. 2 Department of Physiology, Sri Venkateshwara Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Pondicherry, India
  3. 3 Department of Psychiatry, Indira Gandhi Medical College and research Institute, Pondicherry, India
  4. 4 Department of Dermatology, Panimalar Medical College, Chennai, India
  5. 5 Department of Physiology, All India Institute of Medical sciences, Madurai, India.

Published 2026-02-21 · pp. 23-27

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Abstract

Stress is highly prevalent among medical students due to academic demands, clinical responsibilities, and psychosocial factors. Persistent stress has been linked to impaired cognitive performance and long-term neuropsychological consequences. However, objective assessment of cognition in relation to stress among medical undergraduates remains limited. Stress was assessed using MSSQ-40 which evaluates six stressor domains, and categorized as mild, moderate, high, and severe. For correlation analysis, 125 students were recruited and subjected to cognitive assessment using auditory P300 event-related potentials recorded at the Cz electrode placement. The overall prevalence of stress (high + severe categories) was 53.37%. Academic-related stressors (72.8%) and teaching-learning related stressors (69.0%) were the most predominant domains. Statically significant differences in mean stress scores across phases  were observed for academic related, teaching learning, Social related and group activities related stressor (p <0.05). P300 latency showed a significant positive correlation with academic related (r=0.28, p=0.04), teaching learning (r=0.31, p=0.02), Drive related (r=0.527, p<0.001), and group activities related stressor (r=0.39, p<0.001). More than half of the medical students experienced significant stress, predominantly academic related factors. Higher stress levels were associated with prolonged P300 latency, suggesting stress-related cognitive slowing. Early identification and targeted interventions may help improve both mental well-being and cognitive performance among medical undergraduates.

Keywords: Stress; MSSQ-40; Medical students; P300; Cognition; Event-related potentials

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