PREVALENCE OF STRESS AND ITS CORRELATION WITH COGNITION AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS

Stress is highly prevalent among medical students due to academic demands, clinical responsibilities, and psychosocial factors. Persistent stress has been linked to impaired cognitive performance and long-term neuropsychological consequences. However, objective assessment of cognition in relation to stress among medical undergraduates remains limited. Stress was assessed using MSSQ-40 which evaluates six stressor domains, and categorized as mild, moderate, high, and severe. For correlation analysis, 125 students were recruited and subjected to cognitive assessment using auditory P300 event-related potentials recorded at the Cz electrode placement. The overall prevalence of stress (high + severe categories) was 53.37%. Academic-related stressors (72.8%) and teaching-learning related stressors (69.0%) were the most predominant domains. Statically significant differences in mean stress scores across phases  were observed for academic related, teaching learning, Social related and group activities related stressor (p <0.05). P300 latency showed a significant positive correlation with academic related (r=0.28, p=0.04), teaching learning (r=0.31, p=0.02), Drive related (r=0.527, p<0.001), and group activities related stressor (r=0.39, p<0.001). More than half of the medical students experienced significant stress, predominantly academic related factors. Higher stress levels were associated with prolonged P300 latency, suggesting stress-related cognitive slowing. Early identification and targeted interventions may help improve both mental well-being and cognitive performance among medical undergraduates.