ArticleBMC medical education2025
Academic and non-academic life stressors and perceived levels of stress in Brazilian undergraduate health professions students.
Article in BMC medical education, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- How negative life-events affect sleep quality of college students: a chain-mediating model.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Exploring Challenges: A Qualitative Study on Occupational Therapy in Acute Psychiatric Inpatient Settings.Occupational therapy international · 2026Article
- Assessing the correlation between perceived stress and academic achievement among health sciences students.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEntrance into and permanence in higher education programs in health professions may be associated with a variety of academic and personal challenges that often function as significant sources of stress, which may influence students' well-being and performance. This study aimed to investigate the academic and non-academic stressors faced by students at different stages of health-related programs and examine their relationship with perceived stress.
methodsThis was an exploratory cross-sectional study with a mixed-methods convergent design, using a structured questionnaire with two open-ended questions focused on difficulties, and a validated scale for perceived stress. The participants were 105 undergraduate students enrolled in five different programs (medicine, nutrition, physiotherapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy) from a government-funded Brazilian university. The answers to the questions were analysed qualitatively via thematic discourse, which allowed for the identification of categories and subcategories of the stressors.
resultsThere were no significant differences between programs or course stages regarding the number of reported stressors. Qualitative analysis revealed that students in the initial stages struggled more with adaptation and autonomy, whereas those in the final stages reported issues related to course structure and relationships with faculty more frequently. There were weak but statistically significant correlations between perceived stress scores and the number of both academic and non-academic stressors. Twenty-three students (21.9%) were classified as having higher levels of perceived stress. This subgroup reported a significantly greater number of non-academic stressors and had a significantly greater proportion of students with financial difficulties and mental health issues.
conclusionsLarge numbers of different non-academic and academic stressors were observed among students across all programs and course stages, without significant differences between them. The nature of the difficulties, however, varied according to the course stage. Non-academic stressors, such as financial difficulties and mental health issues, appear to be associated with higher stress scores. These findings highlight the need for institutional interventions that provide students with financial support, improve the academic educational environment, and help them develop and improve their coping skills and resilience. Such initiatives should consider the specific needs of students at different stages of their academic programs.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.