Sources of stress in undergraduate podiatry students in the UK and Australia (original) (raw)

International Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation, 2006

Abstract

ABSTRACT High sources of stress have been reported in health-care students, including physiotherapy students. However, there are no studies investigating stress in podiatry students. This study was undertaken to examine the sources of stress in undergraduate podiatry students in universities in both the UK and Australia. The Undergraduate Sources of Stress (USOS) questionnaire, comprising 18 items in three subscales (academic demands, financial issues, personal issues), was administered to students in all years of the bachelor programmes in the UK (n=54/97, response rate=56%) and Australia (n=56/94, response rate=60%). Academic concerns were rated highest for all students, particularly the amount to learn, time demands and intellectual demands of the course. UK levels of academic stress are greatest when students are in their first year, when academic demands are combined with clinical education placements. The university fees were significantly higher for Australian students (P=0.001). In total, 64% of podiatry students in Australia worked in paid employment while studying, compared with 41% of the UK podiatry students. Mean hours of paid employment were 5.3hours for UK students and 7.0hours for Australian students. However, there was no correlation between any of the stress subscales on number of hours worked. High levels of academic stress reported by podiatry students are consistent with other student health-care professions.

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