Assessment of Stress and Quality of Life in Non-native and Native English-speaking Pharmacy Students

Objective. To evaluate the stress and health-related quality of life experienced by native and non-native English-speaking students enrolled in a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program. Methods. This study assessed PharmD students at a single institution using a self-administered online questionnaire. The primary outcome of the study was a comparison of Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) scores. Secondary outcomes were the Medical Outcome Study SF-12 Health Questionnaire scores. An independent samples t test was conducted to compare differences between non-native and native English speakers for both primary and secondary outcomes. Results. The following three criteria were used to evaluate the language status of a student: whether the student preferred to speak English (91/113 participants), whether their primary caregiver as a child spoke English at home (63/113 participants), and whether the student usually thought in English (90/113 participants). Evaluation of the primary outcome of PSS score and secondary outcome of SF-12 mental and physical health revealed no significant differences between native and non-native English speakers based on the three language-related criteria. Conclusion. The results of this study showed that the native language spoken by a pharmacy student was not directly associated with an increase in stress or decrease in quality of life for students in a PharmD program. However, the survey results did indicate that experiencing more stress correlated with a decrease in students' mental health-related quality of life, which indicates the need for further research to identify students at risk for a decrease in mental health-related quality of life during pharmacy education. Keywords: stress, quality-of-life, language, mental health, physical health