Abstract:
Background: University is the best platform which provides opportunities for undergraduates
to develop their successful career. However, it is noticed that university life has become
stressful for undergraduates due to different reasons. Stress is known as a serious issue which
affects the performance of undergraduates of healthcare system. Coping strategies are in
demand for managing stress in the context of delivering prudent healthcare professionals to the
nation.
Objectives: To identify the types of stressors and evaluate the coping strategies among
healthcare professional undergraduates of University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka
Methods: The study was based on a cross-sectional survey. Data were collected from 343
healthcare professional undergraduates from Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Allied Health
Sciences having used stratified random sampling method and a self-administered structured
questionnaire. Data were analysed using SPSS version 16.
Results: The study revealed that majority of the undergraduates (98.8%) were affected by
stress. The level of stress reported was very high regarding examinations (52.7%) than the
other stressors. Results showed that the commonly practiced coping strategies were sleeping
(93.6%) followed by talking to a friend/meeting loved ones (89.8%). Considerable number of
participants used alcohol intake (51.9%), smoking (50.4%), illicit drug intake (50.1%) and
sexual activities (49.6%) for coping with stress. Results suggested that facilities rendered by
two faculties including student counselling services (79.9%), mentoring programme (75.8%)
and career guidance services (69.4%) were used by considerable number of undergraduates as
coping strategies. There were statistical significant differences among coping strategies with
regard to gender, year of study, faculty and degree programme.
Conclusions: Healthcare professional undergraduates have high levels of stress mainly caused
by academic related sources. Majority of the undergraduates managed to use good coping
strategies. However, considerable amount of undergraduates engaged in maladaptive coping
strategies that could give serious consequences for their lives.
