A Comparitive Study of Physical Activity, Academic Performance and Stress Level Among Pharmacy and Non-Pharmacy Students - Before, During and After Covid19 Lockdown

Abstract

Aims and Objectives: To compare the impact of COVID19 lockdown on physical activity, academic performance and stress levels among Pharmacy and Non-Pharmacy students in 3 timeframes- before, during and after lockdown. 

Methods: This is a Cross-sectional retrospective study conducted for a period of 6 months. The data was collected both online and offline. All college going students who had attended regular offline classes before lockdown were included. A total of 880 students were included in the study. A self-prepared questionnaire was used to collect data. The association was calculated using Chi-square test and p-value of less than or equal to 0.05 was fixed as level of significance. 

Results: Analysing the data from 880 students, we found that while non-pharmacy students exercise regularly (67% vs 55.7%), they also spend more time (>8 hours/day) using electronic gadgets (62.9% vs 51.8%). Sleep duration was less, 4-6 hours/day for all students after lockdown (80%), due to sudden overload of class work. Both groups reported difficulty in online learning due to network issues, unfamiliarity with online classes, difficulty in notes taking and unavailability of book resources. Stress levels were high for all, but pharmacy students showed higher anxiety about academics and future careers, while non-pharmacy students reported greater stress in interpersonal relationships. 

Conclusion: We thus conclude that Pharmacy students might benefit from targeted workshops on exam anxiety and future career planning, while Non-Pharmacy students might benefit from support groups or workshops on building positive interpersonal relationships. Both categories of students may benefit from counseling regarding time management, effective phone usage and the importance of 7-8 hours sleep at night.