The effect of Holy Quran on anxiety caused by the OSCE in Khomein University of medical sciences students

Test anxiety is a factor interfering with academic achievement of students. Objective Structured Clinical Evaluation (OSCE) is one of the best methods for evaluating medical students’ achievement, but one of its disadvantages is creating anxiety. This study aims to investigate the effect of listening to Holy Quran recitation on the anxiety caused by OSCE in students of Khomein University of Medical Sciences. This quasi-experimental research was conducted in Khomein University of Medical Sciences in 2017 with two groups. 70 students studying nursing, operating room technician and anesthesia in this university participated in this study. They were randomly assigned to two groups of intervention and control. In the test day, Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) were completed by all the participants. Then, before performing OSCE in the intervention group, a part of Holy Quran recitation was broadcasted through MP3 Player device for 30 minute. The control group received no intervention. Finally, the same questionnaire was filled in again by the two groups and the data were analyzed through independent and paired t-tests. The average anxiety score of the participants was 46.91±7.30 and the two groups were significantly different (p=0.482). The results of this study suggested that the intervention in the intervention group reduced the test anxiety (38.82 ± 7.56), but this difference was not significant (p=0.017). The results of this study showed that listening to Holy Quran recitation reduced the test anxiety score from the high level to the moderate level, but this reduction was not significant