Factors contributing to prosthodontic exam anxiety in undergraduate dental students

Figures & data

Table 1 Research for exam assessment

Statement

Too much (excessive) course load

Lack of time to revise before exam

Lack of time management

Parental expectation

Unable to recall and review

Fear of failure

Lack of English language proficiency (skills)

Lack of knowledge about exam pattern (lack of guidance)

Studying all night before exam

Distractions in the form of mobiles, internet

Dietary habits (unhealthy diet)

Peer pressure (pressure from A grade students)

Memorizing the text without understanding

Finding Prosthodontic vocabulary difficult

Time of the exam (it is either early morning or late in afternoon)

Figure 1 A workflow of the study.

Table 2 Characteristics of the 492 study respondents

Variable		No.	%
Gender	Male	218	44.3
	Female	274	55.7
Course	Preclinical	252	51.2
	Clinical	240	48.8
Exam type	Quiz	279	56.7
	Mid-term	213	43.3
Total		492	100

Table 3 Relationship between different factors and gender

Variables		Total	Gender		P-value
			Male	Female
Total		492	274 (55.7%)	218 (44.3%)	–
Lack of time to prepare before exam	Disagree	41	19 (46.3%)	22 (53.7%)	0.011a
	Moderate	188	96 (51.1%)	92 (48.9%)
	Usually	161	88 (54.7%)	73 (45.3%)
	Agree	102	71 (69.6%)	31 (30.4%)
Lack of English language proficiency (skills)	Disagree	206	133 (64.6%)	73 (35.4%)	<0.001a
	Moderate	213	115 (54.0%)	98 (46.0%)
	Usually	60	22 (36.7%)	38 (63.3%)
	Agree	13	4 (30.8%)	9 (69.2%)
Lack of knowledge about exam patterns (lack of guidance)	Disagree	173	115 (66.5%)	58 (33.5%)	<0.001a
	Moderate	196	106 (54.1%)	90 (45.9%)
	Usually	100	38 (38.0%)	62 (62.0%)
	Agree	23	15 (65.2%)	8 (34.8%)
Distractions in the form of mobiles, internet, etc.	Disagree	44	36 (81.8%)	8 (18.2%)	<0.001a
	Moderate	191	117 (61.3%)	74 (38.7%)
	Usually	183	94 (51.4%)	89 (48.6%)
	Agree	74	27 (36.5%)	47 (63.5%)
Memorizing the text without understanding	Disagree	68	48 (70.6%)	20 (29.4%)	0.002a
	Moderate	267	156 (58.4%)	111 (41.6%)
	Usually	124	57 (46.0%)	67 (54.0%)
	Agree	33	13 (39.4%)	20 (60.6%)

Notes:

a Significant using chi-squared test @<0.05 level.

Table 4 Factors affecting students concerns in preclinical and clinical course examinations according to assessment type

Variables		Total	Type of exam		P-value
			Quiz	Mid-term
Total		492	279 (56.7%)	213 (43.3%)	-
Lack of time to prepare before exam	Disagree	41	19 (46.3%)	22 (53.7%)	0.030a
	Moderate	188	99 (52.7%)	89 (47.3%)
	Usually	161	91 (56.5%)	70 (43.5%)
	Agree	102	70 (68.6%)	32 (31.4%)
Fear of failure	Disagree	109	66 (60.6%)	43 (39.4%)	0.004a
	Moderate	168	77 (45.8%)	91 (54.2%)
	Usually	138	90 (65.2%)	48 (34.8%)
	Agree	77	46 (59.7%)	31 (40.3%)
Time of the exam (early morning or late in afternoon)	Disagree	92	39 (42.4%)	53 (57.6%)	0.001a
	Moderate	221	121 (54.8%)	100 (45.2%)
	Usually	105	67 (63.8%)	38 (36.2%)
	Agree	74	52 (70.3%)	22 (29.7%)

Notes:

a significant using chi-squared test <0.05 level.

Figure 2 Graph showing the percentages of students’ responses to lack of time to revise before the exam in both the clinical and preclinical courses, P=0.044.

Figure 3 Graph showing the percentages of students’ responses to lack of knowledge about exam pattern (lack of guidance) in both the clinical and preclinical courses, P=0.003.