ASSOCIATION BETWEEN PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS AND SKIN SYMPTOMS AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS STUDYING IN KARACHI

Abstract

Objectives To determine any association between psychological stress and skin symptoms in medical students.

Study design and setting :It is a cross-sectional study conducted over a period of 12 months, from  september 30,2022 to August 1, 2023 on medical students enrolled in MBBS program at Liaquat National Hospital and Medical College.

Methodology :We studied medical students through self-reported, validated questionnaires that inquired about socio-demographic information, perceived stress, and skin complaints. All data analysis is done on SPSS version 22. Descriptive frequencies are presented in the form of the mean and standard deviation. Associations were assessed by applying the chi-square test among the variables.

Results A total of 401 questionnaires were used to analyze the data, with a mean age of 20.9 SD 1.6. We found out that 15.7% (n = 28) of the medical students were highly stressed, 77.3% (n = 310) were moderately stressed, and 7% (n = 63) were found to be under low stress. The most common skin symptoms found among medical students were hair fall (76.6%) (n = 315) and dark circles (77.3%) (n = 314). Individuals with high PS levels were more likely to develop skin symptoms such as itchy skin on the hands (p = 0.005), pimples or acne (p = 0.049), troublesome sweating (p = 0.04), dark circles (p = 0.01), and hair greying (p = 0.035).

Conclusions  Psychological stress is associated with skin symptoms reported by medical students, especially dark circles, loss of hair, hair greying, troublesome sweating, and itchy rashes on the hands. Further studies and interventions should be done to assess and assist medical students.

Keywords Dark circles, Hair greying, Medical students, Loss of hair, Psychological stress, Skin symptoms,