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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1447649

Lifestyles and academic stress among health sciences students at the National University of Chimborazo, Ecuador: a longitudinal study

Provisionally accepted
Yolanda E. Salazar-Granizo Yolanda E. Salazar-Granizo 1,2*César Hueso-Montoro César Hueso-Montoro 3,4Rafael A. Caparros-Gonzalez Rafael A. Caparros-Gonzalez 5
  • 1 Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Nursing, National University of Chimborazo, Riobamba, Ecuador
  • 2 PhD Candidate in Clinical Medicine, and Public Health/ Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
  • 3 Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Jaén, University of Jaén, Jaén, Andalusia, Spain
  • 4 Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada (ibs-Granada)/Center for Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Granada, Spain
  • 5 Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada (ibs-Granada), University of Granada, Granada, Spain

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: The significant changes experienced by university students in their training are inherent to educational processes. Social isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, online education and the reopening of higher-education institutions produced substantial variations in the lifestyle of university students in health sciences and generated academic stress and perceived stress. This study was conducted at the National University of Chimborazo (UNACH), a public institution located in Riobamba, central Ecuador, the diverse student's population provided an ideal setting for examining the interplay between academic and perceived stress, lifestyle factors, and learning modalities. The research focused on health sciences students across six academic programs. The university's geographical position and demographic characteristics offered a representative sample for investigating these factors within the context changing. Aim: To compare academic and perceived stress and university students' lifestyles at two different periods: 1) during the mandatory social confinement caused by the COVID-19 pandemic with an online learning modality (T1); 2) in the post-pandemic period with a return to face-to-face activities (T2).

    Keywords: Stress1, lifestyle2, Online Education3, Social isolation4, Health Students5 An observational, analytical, quantitative, and longitudinal study. Participants: Students from six programs (Nursing, Physiotherapy, Clinical Laboratory, Medicine, Dentistry, and Clinical Psychology

    Received: 11 Jun 2024; Accepted: 22 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Salazar-Granizo, Hueso-Montoro and Caparros-Gonzalez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Yolanda E. Salazar-Granizo, Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Nursing, National University of Chimborazo, Riobamba, Ecuador

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.