Title: Study of test anxiety amongst undergraduate medical students

BACKGROUND: Test anxiety is physiological and behavioral responses that accompanies concern about possible negative consequences of failure in an exam. Undergraduate medical students had their academics disrupted during COVID-19 pandemic. AIMS: To study levels of test anxiety among undergraduate medical students, its variance in relation to demography, COVID-19 pandemic, learning experiences and individual factors. METHOD: Online questionnaire-based survey was done amongst undergraduate medical students from medical schools of Gujarat. Students from 1(st), 2(nd) and 3(rd) years who were about to appear in final exams from March to June 2021, were asked to enroll in the survey. Apart from demography, COVID-19 related factors, learning experiences during lockdown, 10-item Westside Test Anxiety (WTA) scale was used to assess test anxiety levels and Kessler Psychological distress (K10) scale was used to assess level of psychological distress. RESULTS: Total of 370 students participated. Mean WTA Score was 3.15±1; 60.2% of the respondents had moderate or higher levels of test anxiety. On bivariate analysis WTA score was found significantly associated with year of study, coming from vernacular medium, various lockdown related issues (family financial problem, worry about future) various learning experiences (feeling ill prepared for exams,) and K10 score. Of these association with K10 score, coming from vernacular medium and feeling ill-prepared for exam were maintained on multiple-linear regression. CONCLUSIONS: Vernacular medium of study during high school was found associated with test anxiety amongst medical students and can be a potential area of intervention