Development of Medical Students Stressor Questionnaire

Abstract

Objective: To develop a questionnaire to measure stressors among first year MBBS students of Government Medical Colleges in Kerala Study Design and Setting: Cross-Sectional study using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Government Medical Colleges in Kerala
Results: A 27-item screening instrument named as Medical Stu dents Stressor Questionnaire (M SSQ) was developed for as- sessing the stressor experience of first year MBBS students. The Cronbach's Alpha for Internal Consistency Reliability was 0.82 with 95% CI 0.77-0.87 and test-retest reliability coefficient was $r=0.91$ with 95% CI 0.86-0.95 Construct Validity was estab- lished by Factor Analysis which yielded nine factors with Eigen values more than one. The factors were explaining 60% of the total variance. The MSSQ has significant correlation with Perceived Stress Scale and General Health Questionnaire establishing Convergent Validity. The total score ranges between 0 and 108. A score d" 54 is no stressor experience, a score between 55 and 81 indicates mild to moderate stressor experience and a score between 82 and 108 denotes severe stressor experience.
Conclusion: The MSSQ having acceptable reliability and validity is meant for screening in first year MBBS students of Govern- ment Medical Colleges in Kerala.