E-ISSN 2231-3206 | ISSN 2320-4672
 

Original Research

Online Publishing Date:
14 / 09 / 2016

 


A comparative study of gender difference in reaction time in response to exam stress among first-year medical students

Surendra S Wadikar, Parikshit A Muley, Pranjali P Muley.


Abstract
Background: Different studies conducted worldwide among medical students have reported the prevalence of stress ranging from 27% to 73%. Exam stress acts as an acute stressor which affects cognitive functions. It is found that the exam stress elicits elevated activity in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and increased release of cortisol.

Aims and Objective: The study was planned to investigate gender difference in perceptions of exam stress and reactions to it among first-year medical students. Choice reaction time (CRT) was used to evaluate the cognitive performance of students during stress-free and stress (exam) conditions.

Materials and Methods: The study was conducted on 60 healthy first year MBBS students (30 boys and 30 girls) between the age group of 18 and 20 years. Digital reaction time was used. Randomly occurring visual and auditory CRT tasks were presented to students. First set of readings was taken during stress-free period, and the second and third sets were taken 20 min before first and second terminal practical examination, respectively.

Results: The readings were analyzed by unpaired Student’s t-test. Results showed that visual and auditory reaction times were increased in both boys and girls with statistically significant difference between boys and girls in stress (exam) condition, but no difference during stress-free condition.

Conclusion: The observation shows that girls tend to perceive more stress than boys which might affect the cognitive functions more, as slower reaction time was observed in girls than boys when they were exposed to stress.

Key words: Choice Reaction Time; Cognitive; Exam; Gender; Stress


 
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Pubmed Style

Surendra S Wadikar, Parikshit A Muley, Pranjali P Muley. A comparative study of gender difference in reaction time in response to exam stress among first-year medical students. Natl J Physiol Pharm Pharmacol. 2017; 7(2): 209-213. doi:10.5455/njppp.2017.7.0822429082016


Web Style

Surendra S Wadikar, Parikshit A Muley, Pranjali P Muley. A comparative study of gender difference in reaction time in response to exam stress among first-year medical students. https://www.njppp.com/?mno=238954 [Access: March 14, 2024]. doi:10.5455/njppp.2017.7.0822429082016


AMA (American Medical Association) Style

Surendra S Wadikar, Parikshit A Muley, Pranjali P Muley. A comparative study of gender difference in reaction time in response to exam stress among first-year medical students. Natl J Physiol Pharm Pharmacol. 2017; 7(2): 209-213. doi:10.5455/njppp.2017.7.0822429082016



Vancouver/ICMJE Style

Surendra S Wadikar, Parikshit A Muley, Pranjali P Muley. A comparative study of gender difference in reaction time in response to exam stress among first-year medical students. Natl J Physiol Pharm Pharmacol. (2017), [cited March 14, 2024]; 7(2): 209-213. doi:10.5455/njppp.2017.7.0822429082016



Harvard Style

Surendra S Wadikar, Parikshit A Muley, Pranjali P Muley (2017) A comparative study of gender difference in reaction time in response to exam stress among first-year medical students. Natl J Physiol Pharm Pharmacol, 7 (2), 209-213. doi:10.5455/njppp.2017.7.0822429082016



Turabian Style

Surendra S Wadikar, Parikshit A Muley, Pranjali P Muley. 2017. A comparative study of gender difference in reaction time in response to exam stress among first-year medical students. National Journal of Physiology, Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 7 (2), 209-213. doi:10.5455/njppp.2017.7.0822429082016



Chicago Style

Surendra S Wadikar, Parikshit A Muley, Pranjali P Muley. "A comparative study of gender difference in reaction time in response to exam stress among first-year medical students." National Journal of Physiology, Pharmacy and Pharmacology 7 (2017), 209-213. doi:10.5455/njppp.2017.7.0822429082016



MLA (The Modern Language Association) Style

Surendra S Wadikar, Parikshit A Muley, Pranjali P Muley. "A comparative study of gender difference in reaction time in response to exam stress among first-year medical students." National Journal of Physiology, Pharmacy and Pharmacology 7.2 (2017), 209-213. Print. doi:10.5455/njppp.2017.7.0822429082016



APA (American Psychological Association) Style

Surendra S Wadikar, Parikshit A Muley, Pranjali P Muley (2017) A comparative study of gender difference in reaction time in response to exam stress among first-year medical students. National Journal of Physiology, Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 7 (2), 209-213. doi:10.5455/njppp.2017.7.0822429082016