Prevalence and correlates of psychiatric morbidity, comorbid anxiety and depression among medical students in public and private tertiary institution in a Nigerian state: a cross-sectional analytical study

Abstract

Introduction the study assessed the prevalence and factors associated with psychiatric morbidity (an array of psychological disorders), and comorbid anxiety and depression among medical students in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Methods a cross-sectional study of medical students in two universities (one public and one private) in Ekiti state was conducted. A semi-structured questionnaire with adapted questions from the General Health Questionnaire and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale was used to obtain information on socio-demographic characteristics, psychiatric morbidity and comorbid anxiety and depression. Data was collected from April 2019 to August 2019. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21. Results a total of 944 medical students participated in the survey. The overall prevalence of psychiatric morbidity and comorbid anxiety and depression among the respondents was 25.0% (CI = 22.1-27.8) and 14.3% (CI = 12.3-16.5) respectively. The factors independently associated with psychiatric morbidity included being a student of a private institution [adjusted odds ratio [AOR] =6.533, [95% confidence interval [C.I] =3.298-12.940], average academic performance [AOR =1.711, [95% C.I =1.173-2.496], below average academic performance [AOR =2.425, [95% C.I =1.313-4.478], and having a father or a mother with highest level of formal education below first degree [AOR =3.147, [95% C.I =1.579-6.272] and [AOR =2.053, [95% C.I =1.074-3.927] respectively. The factors independently associated with comorbid anxiety and depression were being a student receiving less than one dollar equivalent per day as allowance [AOR = 1.953, [95% C.I = 1.135-3.360] and being a student from the Igbo ethnic group [AOR = 0.533, [95% C.I = 0.333-0.853]. Conclusion the prevalence of psychiatry morbidity and comorbid anxiety and depression was high among medical students in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Periodic medical [mental health] screening for medical students may be appropriate to screen, detect and manage psychiatric comorbidities. This will help to ensure optimal mental health for this group of university students.

Prevalence of Depression and Associated Factors among Medical Students in a Southern Nigerian University

“…The present study found that perception of academic performance and the experience of academic failure had significant relationships with depression among the study population. This finding is similar to previous studies in both medical and non-medical students (Nwobi et al, 2009;Aniebue & Onyema, 2008;Falade et al, 2020;Khan et al, 2018). , Falade et al 2020 in a study involving 944 medical students found a 25.0% prevalence of psychiatric morbidity among the respondents, and associated independent factors also included; being a student of a private institution, average academic performance, and below-average academic performance.…”

“…This finding is similar to previous studies in both medical and non-medical students (Nwobi et al, 2009;Aniebue & Onyema, 2008;Falade et al, 2020;Khan et al, 2018). , Falade et al 2020 in a study involving 944 medical students found a 25.0% prevalence of psychiatric morbidity among the respondents, and associated independent factors also included; being a student of a private institution, average academic performance, and below-average academic performance. Using a cross-sectional design, Khan et al (2018) collected data on several stressors psychiatric morbidities from 379 students.…”

“…Medical students are required to assimilate tremendous amounts of information, spend more years in training than their peers in most other disciplines, recall information from prior courses and score high grades in continuous assessments and examinations (Rotenstein et al, 2016). Some may struggle with the large medical curriculum, and these pressures may result in psychiatric morbidities (Falade et al 2020). The present study found that perception of academic performance and the experience of academic failure had significant relationships with depression among the study population.…”

“…Most previous studies assessing depression in medical students and medical doctors made use of less validated instruments (Onyishi et al, 2016;Nwobi et al, 2009;Aniebue & Onyema, 2008;Falade et al, 2020;Issa et al, 2014;Pettersson et al, 2015). In an analysis of twenty instruments frequently used in case finding, diagnosis, and severity grading of major depression, only the Structured Clinical Interview for DSMIV-Axis-I Disorders (SCID-I), Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) fulfilled the minimum criteria for sensitivity and specificity (Pettersson et al, 2015).…”

Assessment of depression among medical students during COVID-19 in a southern state of India

“…Similar higher anxiety scores were found in medical students in the private sector of Karachi, Pakistan and Nigeria. 8,26 This could be due to pressure of studies and passing exams, higher amount of fees paid by the students, increased pressure from parents, as well as pressure of living up to the expectations of the family.…”