Mental Health of Medical Students Before and During COVID-19 Pandemic: a 3-Year Prospective Study

Nunes, Paula; Pereira, Mariana Berwerth; Casagrande, Amanda Victória; Almeida, Beatriz Cantieri; Neves, Beatriz Astolfi; Silva, Thamires Clair Rodrigues Pereira da; Miskulin, Fabricio Petermann Choueiri; Perissotto, Thais; Ribeiz, Salma Rose Imanari

doi:10.1007/s40670-022-01580-3

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…Regarding mental health issues, the results show a risk of MMD in 55.5% of the total number of students. The result is similar to data from other medical schools, which show percentages from 60.5 to 29.6% ( Conceição et al, 2019 ; Melado et al, 2019 ; Prata et al, 2021 ; Pereira et al, 2022 ). Despite the variable percentages, systematic reviews point to greater fragility in the mental health of medical students compared to the general population ( Oliveira and Araujo, 2019 ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Impact of students assistance policies on quality of life and mental health

dos Santos de Brito,

Pereira,

dos Santos

et al. 2023

Front. Psychol.

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IntroductionStudent assistance policies in higher education, in their various modalities, seek to reduce the dropout of a new profile of students, non-traditional, with socioeconomic weaknesses, promoting quality of life (QoL) and mental health during the university journey. In this context, the Student Social Support Center (C.A.S.A) promotes assistance to students who need personal and/or economic support.ObjectivesTo evaluate the QoL and the presence of minor mental disorders (MMD) in students from the 1st to the 4th year of medicine at a public college in Brazil, comparing C.A.S.A beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries.Materials and methodsCross-sectional study with 283 students. SRQ-20 and WHOQOL-BREF questionnaires were used, in addition to a questionnaire addressing sociodemographic data.ResultsThe general average of QoL was regular in the four evaluated domains (physical, psychological, social relationships, environment) and 55.5% of the students have evidence of MMD, in which the QoL scores are lower in all domains. The environment domain, which discusses socioeconomic conditions, has the worst score among C.A.S.A beneficiaries and the best among C.A.S.A non-beneficiaries.DiscussionThe data corroborate the fragile situation of mental health and QoL of medical students. The student assistance modality of the analyzed program possibly presents vulnerabilities in its performance since the environment domain, the one with the lowest score among the program beneficiaries, precisely encompasses financial resources, access to goods and leisure and the individual’s physical environment.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Impact of students assistance policies on quality of life and mental health

dos Santos de Brito,

Pereira,

dos Santos

et al. 2023

Front. Psychol.

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“…A study conducted among US medical students showed that, compared to previous data during the COVID-19 era, anxiety and depression were 61 and 70% higher, respectively (Halperin et al, 2021). In comparison, a prospective study from Brazil showed stability in the medical students' mental health (Pereira et al, 2022).…”

Section: Coronavirus Disease-caused Online Learning and Mental Healthmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Previous research conducted in April 2020 indicated a decreasing prevalence and level of burnout, depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms after transitioning to OL (Bolatov et al, 2021a). However, this study was conducted in the early stages of a pandemic and therefore has several limitations (Pereira et al, 2022). Moreover, there is a need for more information on the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical students and their education (Žuljević et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Simultaneously, Lasheras et al (2020) found no change in the prevalence of anxiety before and during the pandemic, although anxiety was correlated with COVID-19 stressors. Moreover, Pereira et al (2022) resulted stability in medical students' mental health. A recent meta-analysis found a lower overall prevalence of student burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic (11.5%) compared to the overall prevalence of student burnout (12.2%) before the pandemic (Kaggwa et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Medical education during the coronavirus disease pandemic and students’ mental health: A one-year follow-up

et al. 2022

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BackgroundThe coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has affected medical education and psychosomatic health of medical students. In this follow-up study, conducted 1 year after the transition to online learning (OL), we aimed to investigate changes in student mental health and identify factors associated with academic burnout and changes in medical education caused by the pandemic.Materials and methodsThis study compares the burnout rate and psychosomatic status (depression, anxiety, somatic symptoms) of medical students at Astana Medical University using an online questionnaire-based repeated cross-section design of the pre-pandemic period (September–November 2019), the initial period of the pandemic (April 2020), and the current study (March 9–30, 2021). In the pre-pandemic period, students studied only in a face-to-face format. Moreover, the current study (March, 2021) analyzed factors associated with academic burnout and changes in medical education caused by the pandemic. Statistical methods included mean comparison, frequency, and regression analysis.ResultsData from a representative sample of undergraduate students were analyzed (n = 975, 58% of them participated in the previous study). The burnout rate was found to be lower compared with the period of traditional education (pre-COVID-19) and did not significantly differ from the initial period of the introduction of online learning (the initial period of the COVID-19 pandemic). The levels and prevalence of depression and anxiety also showed similar patterns. The prevalence of somatic symptoms has increased compared to the initial period of the pandemic, although it has not reached the level obtained in the pre-COVID-19 period. The negative changes caused by OL in medical education and learning effectiveness have been associated with burnout. Factors associated with burnout, learning effectiveness, dissatisfaction with the quality of OL organization, and deterioration of medical education have been identified.ConclusionThe medical education and mental health of medical students has undoubtedly undergone changes in the transition to OL due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Factors such as changing the content of education, the organization of the educational process and support from the school, the nature of student-teacher, student-school and student-student relationships, the possibility of mastering various skills and financial problems caused by the pandemic, played a significant role in the academic life of students. The results obtained have potential applications in organizing and improving the quality of continuing medical education in an era of global healthcare crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

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“…The general questionnaire included data on age, grade, gender, family situation, academic performance, major life events, and other social demographic data. Using the symptom self-rating scale (SCL-90)[ 8 , 9 ], a total of 90 items were scored at 5 levels (0-4), with scores ranging from 0 (none) to 4 (severe); the scale is divided into physical status, interpersonal sensitivity, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, anxiety, depression, hostility, paranoia, terror, psychosis and another 10 symptoms. This scale is commonly used in mental health screening tools due to its comprehensiveness and ease of understanding.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of contemporary college students’ mental health status and construction of a risk prediction model

Mao¹,

Chen²

2023

World J Psychiatry

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Rapid-cycling bipolar disorder (RCBD) is a phase of bipolar disorder defined by the presence of ≥ 4 mood episodes in a year. It is a common phenomenon characterized by greater severity, a predominance of depression, higher levels of disability, and poorer overall outcomes. It is resistant to treatment by conventional pharmacotherapy. The existing literature underlines the scarcity of evidence and the gaps in knowledge about the optimal treatment strategies for RCBD. However, most reviews have considered only pharmacological treatment options for RCBD. Given the treatment-refractory nature of RCBD, nonpharmacological interventions could augment medications but have not been adequately examined. This review carried out an updated and comprehensive search for evidence regarding the role of nonpharmacological therapies as adjuncts to medications in RCBD. We identified 83 reviews and meta-analyses concerning the treatment of RCBD. Additionally, we found 42 reports on adjunctive nonpharmacological treatments in RCBD. Most of the evidence favoured concomitant electroconvulsive therapy as an acute and maintenance treatment. There was preliminary evidence to suggest that chronotherapeutic treatments can provide better outcomes when combined with medications. The research on adjunctive psychotherapy was particularly scarce but suggested that psychoeducation, cognitive behavioural therapy, family interventions, and supportive psychotherapy may be helpful. The overall quality of evidence was poor and suffered from several methodological shortcomings. There is a need for more methodologically sound research in this area, although clinicians can use the existing evidence to select and individualize nonpharmacological treatment options for better management of RCBD. Patient summaries are included to highlight some of the issues concerning the implementation of adjunctive nonpharmacological treatments.

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Mental Health of Medical Students Before and During COVID-19 Pandemic: a 3-Year Prospective Study

Cited by 7 publications

References 30 publications

Impact of students assistance policies on quality of life and mental health

Impact of students assistance policies on quality of life and mental health

Medical education during the coronavirus disease pandemic and students’ mental health: A one-year follow-up

Investigation of contemporary college students’ mental health status and construction of a risk prediction model

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