scholarly journals Academic and non-academic life stressors and their impact on psychological wellbeing of medical students

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 563-580
Author(s):  
Ahmad A Mirza ◽  
◽  
Hammam Baarimah ◽  
Mukhtiar Baig ◽  
Abdulrahim A Mirza ◽  
...  

<abstract><sec> <title>Objectives</title> <p>Among medical students, depression, anxiety, and stress (DAS) are key public wellbeing challenges that require epidemiological research. We aimed to evaluate potential sources of these psychological disturbances and assess the contribution of academic and non-academic life stressors in psychological morbidity among medical students.</p> </sec><sec> <title>Methods</title> <p>This exploratory questionnaire-based survey was conducted in a Saudi Arabian public sector medical college. A total of 231 medical students were enrolled and completed the depression, anxiety, and stress scale-21 (DASS-21) questionnaire.</p> </sec><sec> <title>Results</title> <p>More than half of the medical students, 129 (55.8%), had depression, 106 (45.9%) students had anxiety, and 87 (37.7%) students had stress. Academic achievement was the largest explanatory factor for depression and stress, whereas bodily appearance constituted the largest explanatory factor of anxiety among the study sample. Academic and non-academic stressors score was significantly associated with depression (adjusted Odds Ratio, aOR = 1.13, 95% CI 1.07–1.19), anxiety (aOR = 1.07, 95% CI 1.03–1.12), and stress (aOR = 1.12, 95% CI 1.08–1.17).</p> </sec><sec> <title>Conclusions</title> <p>Medical students have a high incidence of negative emotional states. These negative psychological states were explained by academic achievement and bodily appearance. The studied stressors influenced medical students' psychological wellbeing.</p> </sec></abstract>

Author(s):  
Jilu Anna Mathew ◽  
Evin Siby ◽  
Arun George Alex ◽  
Gouri Krishna B. S. ◽  
Merlin Moni ◽  
...  

Background: The COVID-19 lockdown has caused increased psychological disturbances among the student community. Medical students are susceptible to mental stressors and thus more likely to be affected by the pandemic. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress in medical students during the COVID-19 lockdown in Kerala along with the associated socio-demographic factors.Methods: A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted among medical students during COVID-19 lockdown in a southern state of India. Collected data included socio-demographic details and depression, anxiety and stress scale-21 (DASS-21). Chi square test was used to determine the association of depression, anxiety and stress with the socio-demographic factors.Results: A total of 760 students were invited to partake in this study. 702 satisfied the inclusion criteria and completed the evaluation, giving a response rate of 92.4%. Among the participants 67.4% were female and 32.6% were males. Prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among medical students were 55.1%, 33.2% and 29.4% respectively. It was found that both male and female students experienced the same levels of depression (p=0.533) during the pandemic. Students studying in private self-financing medical colleges experienced more anxiety compared to students at government medical college (p=0.008) during the pandemic. It was also observed that prevalence of depression (58.4%) was highest among first year medical students.Conclusions: The study revealed that depression, anxiety and stress were prevalent in majority of medical students during the pandemic.


2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (02) ◽  
pp. 242-246
Author(s):  
Komal Iqbal ◽  
Sana Rasheed Chaudhry ◽  
Hifza Noor Lodhi ◽  
Shagufta Khaliq ◽  
Muneeza Taseer ◽  
...  

Objective: The objectives of this study were to find the correlation among the intelligence and academic achievement of MBBS students and to see if the correlation differs between boys and girls. Study Design: Cross Sectional Study. Setting: Ameer Ud Din Medical College / PGMI Lahore. Period: 1st January 2019 to 31st January 2019 Material & Methods: A total of 100 second year MBBS students volunteered to participate (46 males and 54 females). Modified Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) was used to access the IQ of students. Previous academic records of the students before their admission in medical college and written and oral test marks of second year MBBS students during the year were used for measuring academic achievements of students. The results were analyzed by spearmans correlation, Independent t test and Mann Whitney U test. Results: A statistically significant difference (p = 0.04) between IQ of boys and girls was found with males having mean IQ of 97.4±22.7 as compared to females 89.3±15.5. No significant difference was observed in academic achievements of male and female students. Correlation of IQ with academic achievements was also non-significant. Conclusion: Although males have higher IQ but it has no relationship with academic achievement of medical students. Hard work of the students with average or low IQ could be the reason that there was no difference in the academic achievement when they were compared with the students having higher IQ.


Background: Information technology (IT) is a new way of teaching and learning. One of the promising media of information technology is e-Learning, which is used to enhance knowledge and skills among users. A student gains better and deep knowledge through a useful tool. This survey aimed to determine practices among medical students for e-Learning. Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted on 184 students amongst the 500 students currently enrolled in medical college. Data was collected using questionnaires and were analyzed through SPSS version 22. Chi-square was used for qualitative values. Results: Majority 90.80% (n=167) students were aware of e-Learning and were statistically high in first year students (p-value: 0.018). The student did not show statistically significant results for content learned through e-Learning with a p-value of 0.063. Different resources were used for e-Learning in which videos had the highest percentage (87.60%) and audios were used as the least resource for e-Learning (29.20%). Daily, 56% of the students use e-Learning for 1 hour or less and only 3% of the students used it for more than 4 hours. Conclusion: Majority of undergraduate medical students were aware of the use of e-Learning and most of them preferred e-Learning for their course work and studies showing a significant increase in understanding and use, compared to studies conducted earlier. Participants found e-Learning useful and effective tool in increasing knowledge and understanding of their subject. Keywords: e-Learning; Practices; Students.


Author(s):  
Dur-e- Nishat

Background: Family medicine is a field in which complete and detailed set of healthcare services are provided to the patients and their families. In developed countries, freshly graduated students choose family medicine as a priority for their career. However, in Pakistan it is not the case. The present study is undertaken to determine the perceptions of final year medical students’ about Family Medicine as a viable career. Methods: A total number of 504 students participated in the study. This was a cross-sectional study. The study participants were in their final year of medical college. Data was collected using a preapproved questionnaire. Data was entered and analyzed via SPSS version 17 and Chi-Square test was used post-stratification. Results: Only 14.3% (n=72) medical students had heard about Family Medicine. Only 18% (n=92) would select family medicine as a profession. The most frequent rationale for choosing the field of Family Medicine was the variety of patients seen in general practice (55.4% n=51). Conclusion: There is a dire need to focus on increasing awareness about the field of family medicine among medical students. The students should be counseled on the advantages along with the disadvantages of choosing this field as a medical profession.


Author(s):  
Marium Aftab ◽  
Alsaleem Mohammed Abadi ◽  
Shamsun Nahar ◽  
Razia Aftab Ahmed ◽  
Syed Esam Mahmood ◽  
...  

Background: With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are living within a milieu of stress, anxiety, and fear. Medical students are susceptible to these emotional injuries, but their psychological wellbeing and learning may further be assaulted by future uncertainties and altered teaching and training programs. Our objective was to find the extent of the psychological impact of the pandemic and the learning difficulties they are experiencing; Methodology: This cross-sectional study included 418 undergraduate and postgraduate medical students from all over the world. A questionnaire was uploaded in Google survey form. It included background characteristics, questions for psychiatric impact like PHQ-9, GAD-7, ZF-OCS, and questions for learning difficulties perceived in comparison to the pre-pandemic time. Results: Among participants, 34.9% of students were male and 65.1% female. Around 46.4% belonged to the WHO, Eastern Mediterranean region, 26.8% from South East Asia region, 17.5% from the region of America, 5.5% from the European region,2.2%from the Western Pacific region, and 1.7% from the African region. Symptoms due to psychiatric illness were noticed in 393 (93.1%); depression in 386 (92.3%), anxiety in 158 (37.8%), obsessive compulsion disorder in 225 (53.8%), and post-traumatic stress syndrome in 129 (39.9%). Female gender, geographical region, and history of previous psychiatric illness were significantly related to almost all the psychiatric illnesses. Regarding learning difficulty, 96% of students faced problems: trouble with memorizing in 54.0%, concentration problems in 67.0%, about 55.5% of students made more mistakes, while 44.5% noted an increase in reaction time for solving questions. In addition, 90% experienced greater difficulty in overall learning during the pandemic in comparison to the pre-pandemic time. Conclusion: Assault on psychological wellbeing, struggling to memorize, inattention and difficulty in concentration on studies, along with perceived overall trouble with learning, have emerged as collateral damage from the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to medical students.


2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Wei Chew ◽  
Sudeash Rajakrishnan ◽  
Chin Aun Low ◽  
Prakash Kumar Jayapalan ◽  
Chandrashekhar T. Sreeramareddy

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