Can relaxation exercises improve students' OSCE grades: a prospective study

OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Examination) are a means of assessing health profession students. However, they are a source of stress or anxiety for students. The aim of our study was to improve medical students' performance during OSCEs by using human performance optimization techniques (HPOT).

Naïve students for OSCE were divided into blocks of five, randomized to HPOT and control groups. Before starting their OSCE circuit, HPOT blocks underwent a 30-minute preparation session. Anxiety was assessed before and after the OSCE using a Visual Analogic Scale (VAS).

We randomized and assigned 206 students to 41 blocks of which 20 were HPOT and 21 were control. Anxiety before the exam was significantly reduced thanks to the HPOT procedure with a median value of six and four on the VAS respectively before and after the relaxation session (p = 0.001). The final exam score was not associated with pre-OSCE anxiety (p = 0.5). The HPOT procedure did not improve the final score (p = 0.4). Interestingly, the final score was inversely correlated with the final median anxiety VAS reading after the exam (p = 0.01): students with the lowest anxiety VAS achieved better scores.

Relaxation, conscious breathing, and positive reinforcement methods reduced students' anxiety prior to their OSCE; however, these techniques did not improve their scores.