Nature of Stress among Health Science Students in a Malaysian University

Introduction: Stress disorder among students is a major concern in tertiary education. This study aimed to determine the predominance source of stress among health sciences students in a government university in Malaysia by using validated Medical Student Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ). Methodology: The MSSQ was distributed to 248 health science students. The items of MSSQ represent 40 events that reported to being possible sources of stress. Result and discussion: The MSSQ showed satisfactory level of psychometric property in the health science students. The main source of stress was the academic related stressor Conclusion: Academic requirement is the major stressor for the students. This finding is consistent with the literature and appropriate measures should be sought to prevent its unwanted consequences. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.