Prevalence of Stress, Depression and Anxiety among Medical Students at Ain-Shams University

Abstract

Background: Medical education is considered a highly stressful environment. Accumulation of stress leads to growing psychological pressure that causes depression and anxiety which have negative effects on students’ emotional, physical and mental health as low academic performance, lake of concentration, increased absenteeism, deterioration in social relations and increase drug abuse and suicidal risk. Objectives: To measure the prevalence of stress, anxiety, and depression among medical students in Ain-Shams University. To explore sources of stress and coping strategies used by medical students to relieve stress. Methods: a cross-sectional study conducted among medical students in Ain-Shams University; using self-administered validated questionnaires included: Socio-demographic data, socioeconomic scale, Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-42 (DASS-42), Medical Student Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ), and Lazarus Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WOCQ); analyzed by SPSS version 20, Chi-square test and scoring system of scales. Results: Number of medical students participating in the study was 433; Mean age was 20.74 ± 1.59 years. Symptoms prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress among medical students was 67.9%, 57% and 54% respectively in Ain-Shams University. Academic-related problems were the major stressor among the medical students. The main five coping strategies were religion, wishful thinking, self-blame problems solving with planning and self-controlling. Conclusion: These findings prompt us for great attention to the psychological and mental health of medical students to improve their academic performance and quality of life. Interventional studies should be done for stress management and workshop on how to use coping strategies to relieve stress. Keywords: depression, anxiety, stress, medical students.