Common mental disorders among medical students at Universidade Federal de Sergipe: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objective: Estimate the prevalence of common mental disorder and its associated factors among medical students of the Universidade Federal de Sergipe. Method: A cross-sectional study was carried out, applying Self Reporting Questionnaire-20 to 473 students from the 512 medical students enrolled in 2006 and compared with compared with a structured questionnaire by the authors containing information on the socio-demographic characteristics, the teaching-learning process and the psycho-emotional experiences of the students. Freshmen were excluded after initial comparison with the students already exposed to the medical course. Statistical analysis by multiple logistic regression after calculating simple and adjusted odds ratio (OR). Results: The general prevalence of common mental disorder was 40% (n = 473); after exclusion of the freshmen it increased to 42.5% among students from the 2 nd to the 12 th semester. It was higher among those who did not have faith in their acquisition of the skills needed to become a good doctor (OR = 2.82), who felt less comfortable about course activities (OR = 3.75), who considered themselves emotionally stressed (OR = 2.14), among those who did not consider themselves happy (OR = 2.85), who believed that the course did not match their expectations (OR = 1.64) and those who had a prior diagnosis of mental disorder by a psychiatrist (OR = 3.78). Conclusion: The results suggest the necessity of changes to the teaching-learning process and the establishment of a preventive mental health program for medical students. (OR = 3,78). Conclusão: Os resultados sugerem a necessidade de mudanças no processo ensino-aprendizagem, bem como estruturação de programas para cuidar da saúde mental dos estudantes. Descriptors

Common mental disorders in medical students: A repeated cross-sectional study over six years

“…13,15,19 CMD prevalence among the students at the beginning of their program was low and similar to that observed in the general population. This finding was expected because the students answered the questionnaire on the first day of school.…”

“…In our study, an increased prevalence of CMD is noted in our institution during the fifth program year (semester 9); this period corresponds to the transition to the internship, which begins in the tenth semester. 13,24 We consider that the CMD prevalence falls in the 6 th program year, maybe due to overcoming the internship transition stress as well as to the greater integration of knowledge acquired over the years.…”

“…The cut-off point in our research was determined based on the original work by Mari and Williams, 2 other studies on medical students in Brazil, and the pilot study cited above. 2,13,15 The association of the dependent variable (CMD) with the explanatory variables was investigated by calculating the adjusted prevalence ratio (PR) for the fifth year, which is the period with the highest prevalence of CMD.…”

“…[7][8][9][10][11] Among Brazilian medical students, the prevalence of CMD varies from 31.7 to 44.7%. [9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Permanent research on mental disorders among medical students and critical ref lection by medical schools regarding their role in the promotion and prevention of these disorders will help train physicians to be healthier and emotionally better prepared to help diminish the health problems of the people they assist. Thus, our study aims to estimate the prevalence of CMD, associated factors, their changes and movements over the course of six years of the medical undergraduate course among students of a class at a public university in northeastern Brazil.…”

Common mental disorders and associated factors among final-year healthcare students

“…12,13 At the same university, a recent study including only medical students revealed a high prevalence of common mental disorder (42.5%). 14 To date, in this institution, there are no published researches on the mental health of nursing and dental students. National and international studies assessing this kind of population are also scarce.…”