@article {36, title = {Frequency of Anxiety, Depression and Stress among Pharmacy Undergraduates of Annual and Semester System: A Cohort-Based Comparison}, journal = {Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Community Medicine}, volume = {6}, year = {2020}, month = {October 2020}, pages = {35-39}, type = {Research Article}, chapter = {35}, abstract = {

Objectives: The current study was aimed to evaluate the anxiety, depression and stress (AD\&S) among two different academic performance systems (i.e. semester and annual system). Methods: A questionnaire{\textemdash} based, cross-sectional survey technique was adopted. The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) was used to assess the AD\&S among pharmacy undergraduates enrolled at Faculty of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, University of Balochistan Quetta. SPSS v 20.0 was used for data coding and analysis whereas both descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data elaboration. Results: Two hundred and eighty-nine pharmacy undergraduates participated in the study with a distribution of 43.3\% belonging to the annual academic system and 56.7\% from the semester system. Students Majority were of 20 years old (59, 20.4\%), including both male (194, 67.1\%) and female (95, 32.9\%). The mean AD\&S scores of the entire cohort were 14.15{\textpm}9.3, 13.61{\textpm}7.9 and 18.18{\textpm}8.2 respectively representing moderate AD\&S among pharmacy undergraduates. Statistically significant difference (p\<0.05) was reported among students of annual and semester system for all three variables of study whereby the students of semester system were more in AD\&S as compared to the annual system. Conclusion: Based on the findings of current study it is suggested that measure should be taken to reduce the AD\&S among students for better academic performance. This is achievable by engaging students by inquiring their queries and problems faced during the semester-related activities. By doing so, a stress-free environment is predicted hence bringing academic prosperity among students leading to the development of a more qualified and satisfied future pharmacist.

}, keywords = {Anxiety, Depression, Pharmacy, Stress, Undergraduates}, doi = {10.5530/jppcm.2020.3.12}, author = {Mehmood Azam and Rabia Ishaq and Qaiser Iqbal and Syed Umer Jan and Mohammad Alam Mengal and Fahad Saleem} }