Academic performance and anxiety in the evaluation of health science undergraduate students using osce: a pre- and post-covid-19 cohort study

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BACKGROUND: The education of health science students requires the use of assessment tools that provide valid and reliable information about the learning of practical skills. The objective and structured clinical evaluation (OSCE) method has been shown to be useful, but it can cause stress and anxiety, which may increase after COVID-19 affects final academic performance. To test whether the OSCE induces an anxiety response in participants, to analyse the cause of this emotional response and to examine the relationship between OSCE scores and students' final performance. METHODS: Descriptive-analytical study comparing two cohorts of pre- and post-COVID-19 health sciences students. The study was conducted at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Talavera de la Reina (Spain). A total of 121 students were recruited and enrolled in two groups: 56 in the pre-COVID-19 group and 65 in the post-COVID-19 group. Both groups were analysed at the end of the 2nd year of the occupational therapy program. Demographic data and academic performance data were collected using self-developed questionnaires. A three-station OSCE examination was used to assess practical skills. Anxiety was assessed using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory questionnaire. The results were evaluated with a reliability level of 95%, and p < 0.05 was considered to indicate statistical significance. RESULTS: In our study, we found that the prepandemic group had lower baseline anxiety than did the postpandemic group, which was also found after the OSCE. The results of the OSCE were good and not related to the stress or anxiety that might be caused by the exam in either group. We found a decline in academic performance after the pandemic, although with better access scores. CONCLUSIONS: There was an overall decline in academic performance after the pandemic that was not due to stress or anxiety caused by the OSCE.

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