Yogic Techniques To Reduce Stress And Enhance Academic Scores In Students Of Medicine - A Study Conducted In The Coastal Belt Of Karnataka

Abstract

Background: Medical education is perceived as being stressful, and a high level of stress may have a negative effect on cognitive functioning and learning of students in a medical school. Yoga and meditation techniques have also been found to reduce stress levels and mood disturbance in young professionalsAims and Objectives:Evaluate the effects of yogic techniques on the stress levels and academic performance of first-year medical students.Materials and Methods:This is a cross-sectional study was conducted among medical undergraduate. Institutional ethics committee clearance was obtained before beginning the experiments. A total of 100 1st year medical students from Kasturba medical college Mangalore were the participants in this study. Stress levels were assessed using perceived stress scale. Yogic techniques were given for a period of 6 weeks and post-intervention stress levels and sessional marks in Physiology were taken and compared using student t-test. Statistical package SPSS version 17.0 was used to do the analysis. Significance of the test was set at P<0.05.Results: The overall response rate was 95%. Yoga intervention significantly(p<0.0001) decreased the stress levels in the high-stress groups from mean perceived stress scale score of 23.69(pre-intervention) to 19.72 (post-intervention) There was a non-significant improvement in academic performance.Conclusion In medical students, inter-professional intervention using Yoga helps in reducing stress.Regular yoga practice is an effective means to decrease perceived stress and improving academic performance. Integrating Yogic intervention into the medical curriculum may result in decreased work-related stress and fewer burnouts in physicians initiating better doctor and patient interactions, ultimately improving quality of healing and patient care.