Test anxiety and procrastination in physiotherapy students

BACKGROUND: Short-term academic procrastination may be accompanied by negative outcomes such as anxiety, stress, and depression. The current study aims to evaluate the two parameters of procrastination and test anxiety in physiotherapy students and explore whether a relationship exists between them. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A descriptive, cross-sectional survey with a prospective study design was carried out over a period of 6 months. The study used a two-staged cluster sampling method: 220 undergraduate and postgraduate physiotherapy students from colleges in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai participated in the study, ensuring participation of students from each year of the course. The Westside Test Anxiety Scale was administered to evaluate test anxiety, and the Academic Procrastination Scale was used to evaluate procrastination. To illustrate the basic demographics of the participants, descriptive statistics were used. A correlation matrix was used to analyze the correlation between the two parameters. RESULTS: The mean procrastination score of the physiotherapy students was 74.1. Amongst undergraduates, the highest procrastination was seen in the 3(rd) Bachelor of Physiotherapy students (mean = 76.7), whereas among postgraduates, the highest procrastination was seen in Master of Physiotherapy 1 students (mean = 75.7). The mean test anxiety score was 3, indicating moderately high test anxiety among students. There was a statistically significant, positive correlation between test anxiety score and procrastination score (P value = 0.000, Pearson's correlation co-efficient = 0.383). CONCLUSION: Both test anxiety and the tendency to procrastinate were present among undergraduate and postgraduate physiotherapy students, in varying degrees. There was a positive correlation between the two factors.