Abstract: Objective To explore the main stress life events and digestive tract symptoms of students in a medical college in Ningxia and provide theoretical basis for the prevention of health problems of medical students.Methods A stratified cluster sampling method was used to investigate 600 students of different grades in a medical college in Ningxia by using the Adolescent Life Event Scale and the Gastrointestinal Symptoms Questionnaire from March to April,2018. Results The main stressful life events of medical students were interpersonal relationships,learning pressure and health adaptation. The differences between other factors of stress life events in medical students of different genders were statistically significant(Z=-3.876,P<0.05). Medical students of different grades had statistically significant differences in interpersonal relationships,learning pressure,punishment, and loss of these four stressful life event factors(Z=14.702,18.693,10.565,17.017,all P<0.05). The main gastrointestinal symptoms of the investigated medical students were: dryness of mouth or throat 66.52%,indigestion 51.67%,abnormal taste 43.10%,loss of appetite 42.05%,hernia 41.21%,bloating 40.17%,etc. There were no statistically significant differences in gastrointestinal symptoms among medical students of different genders,places,and grades(χ²=0.242,1.133,2.667,all P>0.05). Logistic regression showed that the effects of study pressure and other factors in stressful life events had statistically significant on gastrointestinal symptoms(χ²=10.885,7.868,all P<0.05). Conclusion Learning stress and other factors of life events are factors that affect gastrointestinal symptoms.

Key words: medical students, stress life events, gastrointestinal symptoms