Perceived Stress and Sources of Stress Among Physiotherapy Students From 3 Countries

Abstract

Background and Purpose. The aim of this study was to compare the perceptions and sources of stress among physiotherapy (PT) students from 3 education programs across 3 countries and across year of study in the program. Subjects. All enrolled PT students from Ariel University Center of Samaria, Israel (154); The University of Melbourne, Australia (295); and Lund University, Sweden (177) were invited to participate in the study. Methods. A cross-sectional survey was administered. Data were collected using a questionnaire, which was comprised of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the Undergraduate Sources of Stress Questionnaire (USOS), and 1 item to evaluate “perceived difficulty of studies.” ANOVA was used to evaluate the differences between programs. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the effect of sociodemographic characteristics on the dependent variables. Results. The lowest mean perceived stress (PS) score of 13.5 (95% CI: 12.4-14.6) was reported by students from Ariel and the highest of 19.0 (95% CI: 17.7-20.3) by students from Lund. Perceived difficulty of studies was the most significant contributor to the level of PS. The USOS academic factor was the main source of stress for participants from all 3 programs. Both personal and academic sources of stress contributed to high levels of PS among the students at all 3 universities. Students' demographic profiles differed between universities. Discussion and Conclusions. The perceived stress and sources of stress for PT students across all 3 universities were mainly derived from academic sources. Differences between groups may be attributed to demographic profile differences and to education program differences. Faculty members in PT departments should be aware of stress among students. Academic stress during university studies needs to be further investigated in order to optimize student performance and address curriculum design and development.