Preclinical sources of stress among military dental students in Taiwan

Objective: The behavior science of military dental students was not clear in Taiwan. The aim of this study was to identify preclinical sources of stress among dental students at the National Defense Medical Center in Taiwan.

Methods: Questionnaire included a modified Dental Environment Stress (DES) questionnaire associated with preclinical-items and students' motivations was used to study 69 students in years 1-6 at the department of dentistry, National Defense Medical Center. All the data was collected and analyzed using the SPSS.13.0 package. Means and standard deviations were determined for stress scores of individuals for each item and were used to compare the genders, classes, and different motivations. Student's t-test was used for two group comparisons like gender difference and individual stress score. ANOVA was used to assess any difference on outcome measures of DES between the years of study and motivations. Post hoc analysis was performed with Scheffe's test. Subsequently, stepwise multiple regression analysis was carried out with DES means score as the dependent variable. Statistic significance was set at P<0.05.

Results: A total of 68 students responded (response rate 98.6%). Male students experienced greater stress than females on economics (p=0.05), lack of time for relaxation (p=0.034), and lack of confidence to be a successful dental students (p=0.033). The students who joined military dental school by their parents' pressure showed greater stress in economics and facing their feature (p=0.03 and 0.018, respectively).Students who jointed military dental school voluntarily showed less military-associated stress (p=0.05).

Conclusion: The motivation of the military dental students played an important role on facing their preclinical challenge. It appears there is a need to improve support for our students in Taiwan.