Abstract
Medical students are prone to develop stress, anxiety and depression owing to vastness of curriculum, hectic lifestyle, economic burden, and competitiveness of medical field. The study aims to find out the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress among first-year medical students. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 91 first-year students of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery enrolled in a tertiary care hospital using depression, anxiety, and stress-42 scale along with a questionnaire regarding sociodemographic and stressors for their problems. Whole sampling was done and the study was conducted between June and July 2018 after taking ethical approval from the Research and Institutional Review Committee (Reference Number: 57-074/075). The highest prevalence among undergraduate medical students was found to be anxiety 54 (59.3%), followed by stress 41 (45.1%) and depression 40 (44%). Almost half of the first-year medical students reported some level of depression, anxiety, or stress. It is important to implement programs in the early years of the medical school from the administrative level to help and identify students suffering from depression, anxiety, and stress.
Highlights
Medical students are prone to develop stress, anxiety and depression owing to vastness of curriculum, hectic lifestyle, economic burden, and competitiveness of medical field
A study conducted among first-year medical students in an Egyptian Public University reported the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress to be 63.6%, 78.4%, and 57.8% respectively which is higher compared to our study.[7]
A study conducted among medical students in two medical colleges in Nepal reported the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress to be 29.9%, 41.1%, and 27% respectively which is lower than the finding of our study.[8]
Summary
Medical students are prone to develop stress, anxiety and depression owing to vastness of curriculum, hectic lifestyle, economic burden, and competitiveness of medical field. Depression is a mental disorder characterized by depressed mood, loss of pleasure, reduced energy and activity, decreased self-esteem, decreased attention with changes in appetite, and sleep disturbances and can even lead to ideas and acts of self-harm and suicide.[1] Anxiety is characterized by the feeling of tension, nervousness, worried thoughts, and physical changes such as sweating, trembling, and increase blood pressure.[2] Stress is a physiological and psychological stimulus that causes bodily or mental tension.[3]. Medical education is one of the most competitive fields that create intense stress among students, which harms the learning process, mental and physical health of students. There has been an increase in the number of suicides and dropouts among medical students.[4,5] There are fewer studies that assess the burden of depression, anxiety, and stress targeting first-year medical students in Nepal. It is important to have more studies concerning the mental health of medical students in their early years of medical school
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