Medical Student Syndrome: A Hypochondriacal Distress In Undergraduates– Verity Or Myth

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to correlate the hypochondriacal concerns related to diseases with level of anxiety and depression symptoms among medical and engineering undergraduates. Study design and Setting: Cross sectional study was conducted among undergraduates of final year students of BUMDC (Bahria University Medical & Dental College) and engineering students from NUST- PNEC (NUST – Pakistan Navy Engineering College). Methodology: In this study; (99) final year medical students and (92) engineering students were recruited. In order to maintain consistency of age, students aging between 21–26 years were selected. Selected students were handed to fill the required ‘Self-administered Questionnaire’ comprising of demographic details, short health anxiety inventory, medical history and DASS (depression, anxiety and stress scale) which were completed on-site. Data was entered in SPSS version 21 and analyzed using Fisher’s exact test. P value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Result: Out of 191 students in total from both the groups n=86 (45%) were females and n=105(55%) were males. There were 99 participants from MBBS and 92 from engineering. The participants’ ages ranged from 21-26 years with a mean= 23.95 (SD±2.29), both the cohorts belonged to approximately same age group. While assessing depression the responses were not very different for both the groups. When responses of depression scale were related to visits to psychiatrists or psychologist or psychotherapist a strong relationship was observed (p=0.012) in medical students cohort. Conclusion: The results of the study reflected comparable psychosocial strain at an elevated level among both student groups

Medical Students' Syndrome among Medical Students in the University of Sharjah, UAE

“…2 A study conducted in Karachi compared the help-seeking behavior between two groups, medical students and engineering students, and concluded that there is no significant difference between the two groups. 1 This is contrary to the popular belief that medical students tend to avoid seeking medical help when necessary.…”

“…Medical students' syndrome (MSS) is a combination of psychosomatic symptoms that occur due to students correlating their vague symptoms to medical conditions they recently learned about, 1 whether in their books, lectures, or hospital wards. 2 A study conducted in London has revealed that this phenomenon mainly occurs due to the extensive requirements the average medical student must meet during their preclinical and clinical years.…”