Stress factors among physiotherapy students at a university in Gauteng, South Africa

Physiotherapy students are highly susceptible to experiencing burnout during training. Prolonged exposure to stressful environments predisposes students to psychological morbidities.

The study assessed the perceived level of stress and stressors among a cohort of final-year physiotherapy students, registered at a medical university in Gauteng province, South Africa.

The study was conducted at a single medical university in Gauteng province with registered final-year undergraduate physiotherapy students for the 2024 academic year.

A descriptive cross-sectional study with a total population sample of 42 physiotherapy students. Data were collected through an online anonymised self-administered questionnaire. The Cronbach alpha coefficients for each subscale were 0.99 for physical, 0.72 for interpersonal relationships, 0.85 for academic and 0.81 for environment. Statistical analysis was conducted using IBM Corp's Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Software version 25.

The median age of participants was 22 years (iqr ± 3.8) with 69.0% of them being females. Perceived stress levels ranged between low (n = 24, 57.14%) to moderate (n = 18, 42.85%) with females being at risk, as measured by the Student Stress Inventory. Academic and environmental factors contributed to perceived moderate to severe stress levels.

The study found the severity of stress levels to be slightly below what has been reported in other studies. However, attention needs to be directed to female students to develop emotional self-efficacy skills. Early identification of psychosomatic disorders could indicate the need for interventions to prevent psychological and physiological morbidities.

The study adds to the body of knowledge pertaining to the mental health of students at higher institutions of learning.