An observational study on stress and sleep variation among paramedical students during Covid-19 lockdown

Abstract

Background-Enforcement of nationwide lockdown to prevent the further spread of Covid-19 infection, the advisory of social distancing and isolation has imposed mental health challenges to the students. This abrupt onset of changes leads to fear, stress, and anxiety in all the concerned paramedical students. Objectives: To evaluate the association between sleep onset and perceived stress score in paramedical students. Material and Methods- An observational study was done on 134 first year paramedical students of the Government Medical College of Jabalpur( Madhya Pradesh) who participated in the study. The data was collected through online questionnaires. Data was analyzed using the chi-square test. Results- The mean age of the participants was 19.98± 1.21years and body mass index (BMI) was 20.93 ±3.40 Kg/m2. The Mean Perceived Stress Score Scale (PSS Score) was 18.19 ± 11.19. The association between difficulty in falling asleep and PSS Score was found to be non significant (p=0.157). 24.62% of students pursued art/painting,7.46% dance,15.67% exercise, 25.37% music, and 14.18% yoga as their hobbies to cope up with the stress. Conclusion- Covid 19 lockdown has a substantial impact on the paramedical students in terms of the increased level of stress.