BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted education worldwide, prompting a rapid shift to emergency remote teaching that challenged students’ learning and mental health. Nursing students, in particular, faced heightened pressures due to the suspension or online adaptation of essential clinical experiences, alongside the need to master theoretical and practical competencies. Emerging evidence indicates that such stressors adversely affect students’ emotional and psychological well-being, potentially influencing academic outcomes. Understanding the relationship between mental health and academic performance among nursing students is crucial for developing targeted interventions that support their well-being and professional readiness.

OBJECTIVE

This study analyzed the mental health status and academic performance of graduating nursing students during the challenging period of remote learning amid the pandemic in a government school in Leyte.

METHODS

The study utilized a descriptive correlational design to explore the relationships between mental health status and academic performance among nursing students. A modified self-administered questionnaire was utilized to gather data. Ethical approval from Eastern Visayas Health Research and Development ConsortiumEthics Review with ERC number 2023-024 was secured, and data collection occurred through various methods. Data analysis used SPSS version 24, emphasizing the importance of understanding these relationships in educational settings.

RESULTS

The study assessed the demographic profile, online learning attributes, mental health status, and academic performance of 20 nursing students during the pandemic. All students passed their courses, despite reporting moderate emotional loneliness and irritability, but minimal fear of COVID-19. Significant correlations were found between demographic factors and mental health indicators. The null hypothesis, suggesting no relationship between demographic factors and mental health, is void, as significant associations were identified. Recommendations include enhancing mental health support in nursing education to address these challenges.

CONCLUSION

This study highlights the experiences of 20 nursing students from a government college in Leyte during the COVID-19 pandemic. Predominantly young women from rural, low-income backgrounds, these students faced challenges like poor internet access but successfully completed their academic requirements, showcasing resilience. While they reported low fear of COVID-19, moderate emotional loneliness and irritability indicated underlying mental health issues. The findings stress the need for educational institutions to provide mental health support and address the digital divide to enhance student well-being and success.

Human ; Male ; Female ; Young Adult: 19-24 Yrs Old ; Adult: 25-44 Yrs Old ; Statistics As Topic ; Psychological Well-being ; Indicators And Reagents ; Students, Nursing ; Suspensions ; Academic Performance ; Learning ; Pandemics ; Nursing ; Education, Nursing ; Covid-19 ; Mental Health

OBJECTIVES

This cross-sectional study aimed to compare the levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, coping strategies, and willingness to go on duty in a COVID-referral hospital in Metro Manila among medical interns from March to April 2021.

METHODS

The study comprised medical interns selected via stratified random sampling and was conducted to meet the research objectives. Data were obtained through the Willingness to Go on Duty questionnaire, the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), and the Filipino Coping Strategies Scale. Descriptive and inferential analysis (chi-square test, Wilcoxon rank-sum test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Spearman’s correlation) of data was used in this study.

RESULTS

26.62%, 23.02%, and 13.67% of the 139 participants reported having severe to extremely severe depression, anxiety, and stress, respectively. Sociodemographic variables such as age, sex, internship classification, training/track, presence of comorbidities, and living arrangement were not associated with psychological distress, while the use of some coping strategies was associated with some of these variables. 85.61% of the medical students who participated in the study expressed willingness to go on duty in non-COVID areas, while only 43.88% were willing to go on duty in COVID areas. Most of the participants who are unwilling to report in non-COVID areas reported having symptoms of moderate to extremely severe depression based on their DASS-21 scores.

CONCLUSION

Coping strategies used by medical students in this tertiary COVID-19 hospital during the pandemic differed across demographic variables and may be a function of societal and cultural norms. The top reason for the willingness to go on duty regardless of area of assignment (COVID or non-COVID) is the need for clinical learning experience and skills development, while the main reason for their refusal is the fear of being exposed to or contracting COVID-19.

Human ; Female ; Internship And Residency ; World Health Organization ; Students, Medical ; Referral And Consultation ; Psychological Distress ; Track And Field

BACKGROUND

Professional identity plays a significant role in alleviating role stress among healthcare professionals. However, these two factors are poorly explored in the midwifery profession.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the perceived level of professional identity and role stress and the relationship between them among midwifery students.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study design was employed involving 379 midwifery students from SOCCSKSARGEN Region, Mindanao. Participants were selected through purposive sampling. Macleod Clark Professional Identity Scale (MCPIS-9) and twelve-item Role Stress Scale (RSS) were used in gathering the data. Spearman rho, point-biserial correlation, and F-test were used for data analysis.

RESULTS

The students’ mean score in professional identity was high (4.07, SD=0.46) while the mean score of the overall role stress was low (2.47, SD=0.51). There was a positive and significant relationship between age (rs=0.207, P

CONCLUSION

Midwifery students’ perceived level of professional identity was high, while their level of role stress was quite low. Age, year level, and marital status were significantly correlated with their levels of professional identity and role stress. Moreover, students with a higher level of professional identity may report low levels of role ambiguity, role overload, role conflict, and overall role stress.

Midwifery ; Students ; Role ; Cross-sectional Studies

OBJECTIVES

This study aims to explore the perceptions of UST Occupational Therapy students regarding AI chatbots in the context of school-related activities. It will further focus on their concerns, utility, and perceived effects of AI on learning related to school activities

METHODS

A qualitative descriptive design will be used and will utilize three focus group discussions, one for each year level (first, second, and third-year students), to gather extensive and accurate accounts of students’ perceptions. Thematic analysis, using manual coding and following Braun and Clarke’s six-phase analytic framework, will be employed for data analysis.

RESULTS

The study is expected to generate themes describing students’ perceived usefulness, concerns, and learning-related impacts of AI, providing insights that may support the responsible and informed integration of AI in occupational therapy education.

Human ; Statistics As Topic ; Therapeutics ; Students ; Occupational Therapy ; Focus Groups

Human ; Students ; Schools ; Occupational Therapists

Introduction: Medical student attrition and poor academic performance have implications for both medical schools and the future healthcare workforce. This study aimed to determine the demographic and academic characteristics of first-year medical students with low academic performance across different instructional modalities—traditional face-to-face, online, and HyFlex learning. Methods: This non-concurrent cohort study included first-year medical students enrolled from School Years (SY) 2018–2019 to 2024–2025. Student characteristics analyzed included sex, pre-medicine degree, pre-medicine general weighted average (GWA), National Medical Admission Test (NMAT) score, and academic performance in annual first-year subjects. Low academic performance was defined as failure in at least one annual subject. Students were grouped according to instructional modality: face-to-face (SY 2018–2020), online (SY 2020–2022), and HyFlex (SY 2022–2025). Demographic and academic characteristics were compared between students with and without low academic performance. Results: A total of 2,936 first-year medical students were included. The proportion of students with low academic performance was 19% during the face-to-face period, 17% during the online period, and 27% during the HyFlex period. Across all instructional modalities, students with low academic performance had significantly poorer pre-medicine GWA than students who passed all annual subjects (p<0.05). During the online and HyFlex periods, students with low academic performance also had significantly lower NMAT scores than students who passed all annual subjects (p<0.05), whereas no significant difference in NMAT scores was observed during the face-to-face period. Conclusion Pre-medicine GWA was consistently associated with academic performance across face-to-face, online, and HyFlex instructional modalities. Lower NMAT scores were associated with low academic performance during online and HyFlex learning. Early identification of students with poorer pre-medicine academic performance and lower NMAT scores may facilitate timely academic support.
Students, Medical ; Academic performance ; Education, Distance ;

BACKGROUND: A comprehensive understanding of the epidemiology of pediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) occurring under school supervision is lacking. We aimed to comprehensively describe the characteristics and outcomes of OHCA among students in elementary schools, junior high schools, high schools, and technical colleges in Japan. METHODS: OHCA data from 2008-2021 were obtained from the SPIRITS study, which provides a nationwide database of OHCAs occurring under school supervision across Japan. We included cases in which resuscitation was attempted by emergency medical service personnel or bystanders. The cases were classified into three groups based on their etiology: cardiac, non-cardiac, and traumatic origin. The primary outcome was one-month survival with favorable neurological outcomes, defined as a Glasgow-Pittsburgh cerebral performance category of 1 or 2. The demographic characteristics, event details, and outcomes were compared across the three groups by using χ² tests for categorical variables and one-way analyses of variance for continuous variables. RESULTS: During the 14-year study period, 602 OHCA cases were confirmed, with 430 (71.4%) classified as cardiac, 91 (15.1%) as non-cardiac, and 81 (13.5%) as traumatic origin. Non-cardiac and traumatic cases were less likely to be witnessed at the time of arrest (46.2% and 42.0%, respectively) than cardiac cases (82.6%; p < 0.001). Initiation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation by bystanders was less common in non-cardiac and traumatic cases (62.6% and 42.0%, respectively) than that in cardiac cases (82.8%; p < 0.001). The delivery of defibrillation using public-access automated external defibrillators was also significantly less frequent in non-cardiac (3.3%) and traumatic cases (6.2%) than that in cardiac cases (59.8%; p < 0.001). Ventricular fibrillation (VF) as the first documented rhythm was observed in 77.9% of cardiac cases but was much less common in non-cardiac (5.5%) and traumatic cases (8.6%; p < 0.001). One-month survival with favorable neurological outcomes was significantly lower in non-cardiac (6.6%) and traumatic cases (0%) than that in cardiac cases (50.2%; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS OHCAs of cardiac origin were more frequently associated with VF and had relatively good prognoses. In contrast, OHCAs of non-cardiac and traumatic origins consistently resulted in poor outcomes, highlighting the critical importance of prevention strategies to reduce the occurrence of these incidents.
Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest/etiology* ; Humans ; Japan/epidemiology* ; Male ; Female ; Child ; Students/statistics & numerical data* ; Schools/statistics & numerical data* ; Adolescent ; Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation/statistics & numerical data* ; Emergency Medical Services/statistics & numerical data* ; Epidemiologic Studies

BACKGROUND: High levels of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) traits are associated with various outcomes, including depressive symptoms, functional impairment, and low self-esteem. Additionally, individuals with high levels of ADHD traits are reported to be more adversely affected by fear of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The current study aimed to examine whether the association between ADHD traits and outcomes was partially mediated by fear of COVID-19 using mediation analysis. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a sample of university students in medical-related faculties (n = 1,166). ADHD traits, fear of COVID-19, depressive symptoms, functional impairment, and self-esteem were assessed using the adult ADHD Self-Report Scale, Fear of COVID-19 Scale, K6 Scale, Sheehan Disability Scale, and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, respectively. We used linear regression analysis and the Paramed command in Stata to analyze whether fear of COVID-19 mediated the association between ADHD traits and outcomes. RESULTS: ADHD traits were significantly associated with outcomes. Regarding the impact of fear of COVID-19, the results revealed a significant association between ADHD traits and fear of COVID-19, and between fear of COVID-19 and outcomes. The results of the mediation analyses showed that the association between ADHD traits and outcomes was partially mediated by the fear of COVID-19 (depressive symptoms: direct effect B = 1.029, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.878, 1.181, indirect effect B = 0.021, 95% CI 0.002, 0.040; functional impairment: direct effect B = 0.786, 95% CI 0.593, 0.979, indirect effect B = 0.033, 95% CI 0.005, 0.060; self-esteem: direct effect B = -1.052, 95% CI -1.226, -0.878, indirect effect B = -0.024, 95% CI -0.046, -0.002). CONCLUSIONS Developing preventive measures against the adverse impacts of pandemics like COVID-19 will be particularly important for individuals with high levels of ADHD traits in future.
Humans ; COVID-19/psychology* ; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity/epidemiology* ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Self Concept ; Male ; Female ; Depression/epidemiology* ; Fear/psychology* ; Young Adult ; Universities ; Students/psychology* ; Adult ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Mediation Analysis ; Adolescent

BACKGROUND: Difficulty awakening is a common concern among adolescents and contributes to school absenteeism. Although cross-sectional studies suggest that commuting times, internet usage, and sleep disturbances are associated with school attendance problems, few have specifically focused on adolescents. We aimed to examine the factors contributing to school absenteeism due to difficulty awakening in Japanese high school students. METHODS: In this longitudinal cohort study, data were prospectively collected between 2016 and 2018 from 54 high schools in a prefecture of Western Japan. Tenth-grade students (n = 6,121) without tardiness (n = 5,812) or absences (n = 5,946) at baseline were recruited. The outcome of interest was school absenteeism due to difficulty awakening, which included both tardiness and absences (≥2 days/month). Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the associations between commuting time and lifestyle factors after adjusting for confounders. RESULTS: The incidence rates of tardiness and absences due to difficulty awakening were 19.3 and 9.6 per 1,000 person-years, respectively. Common risk factors for absenteeism included prolonged internet usage (≥5 h) and dissatisfaction with school. Protective factors for school tardiness included study time and participation in extracurricular sports activities (both ≥2 h). Long commuting time (≥1 h) was associated with a higher risk of school absences. CONCLUSIONS Long commuting times, prolonged internet usage, and poor school satisfaction increased the risk of school absenteeism due to difficulty awakening. Promoting academic engagement and extracurricular activities may help reduce absenteeism. Interventions that increase school satisfaction, such as providing learning opportunities outside of school, supporting extracurricular activities, and improving the school environment, may be effective prevention strategies.
Humans ; Absenteeism ; Japan/epidemiology* ; Adolescent ; Male ; Female ; Prospective Studies ; Schools/statistics & numerical data* ; Students/psychology* ; Longitudinal Studies ; Risk Factors ; Transportation/statistics & numerical data* ; East Asian People

OBJECTIVES: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a common mental health and behavioral issue among adolescents. This study aims to investigate the developmental trajectory of adolescent NSSI and gender differences, providing a foundation for better prevention and intervention. METHODS: A longitudinal study was conducted using the Adolescent Self-Injury Scale (ASIS) in a cohort of 1 042 junior high school students from 3 middle schools in Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province. Participants were surveyed 3 times at 6-month intervals. A latent growth curve model was constructed using Mplus8.0 to examine the development trajectory of NSSI, and multi-group comparisons were used to assess gender differences. RESULTS: Detection rates of NSSI at the 3 time points were 43.95%, 44.43%, and 38.36%, respectively. Mean of the intercept factor of the LGCM for adolescent NSSI behavior was 9.540 (P<0.001), and the mean slope was -2.297 (P<0.001). Both the variances of the intercept (σ²=169.431, P<0.001) and slope (σ²=141.981, P<0.001) were significant, with a significant negative correlation between intercept and slope (r=-0.559, P<0.001). There were no statistically significant gender differences in initial level or rate of change of NSSI behaviors (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS NSSI is relatively prevalent among adolescents, with female adolescents experiencing more severe NSSI. Individual differences exist in both the initial level and rate of change of NSSI, and overall, adolescent NSSI shows a decreasing trend over time. No significant gender differences were found in the trajectory of change.
Humans ; Self-Injurious Behavior/psychology* ; Adolescent ; Male ; Female ; Longitudinal Studies ; Sex Factors ; Adolescent Behavior/psychology* ; China/epidemiology* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Students/psychology*