Introduction:

According to the state of the nation 2018, Costa Rica is the third Latin American country with the highest traffic density; it is only surpassed by Argentina and Mexico.

Objective:

To identify the factors associated with level of stress in students due to congestion during their transit to the university and the factors associated with the presence or absence of stress due to the congestion in the transit to the university.

Methods:

An observational, analytical and cross-sectional study was carried put, with the participation of 420 students, who completed the corresponding surveys, which allowed assessing the level of stress generated by road congestion in the study population. The variables associated with the presence or absence of stress were age, academic performance, travel from home to university in the morning, from home to university in the afternoon, from home to university at night, car, taxi, train, bus and motorcycle. The variables associated with the level of stress were sex, canton of residence, the way of transportation by car, motorcycle, and travel time.

Results:

The students used the bus as their main means of transportation. The academic performance reported by 83% of the sample was in the value of 7. 90% of the respondents expressed that they present stress associated with road congestion. The presence of stress was not associated with travel time; the stress level was.

Conclusion:

Academic performance is associated with the presence of stress, not with the level of stress; that is, its existence could be affecting the student's academic situation.

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