Mental health and quality of life of Brazilian medical students: Incidence, prevalence, and associated factors within two years of follow-up

Abstract

Medical students’ mental health and quality of life (QoL) cause growing concern worldwide, but, to date, few longitudinal studies have followed these students. Our objective was to evaluate the incidence, prevalence, and factors associated with quality of life and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress of Brazilian medical students who were followed for a period of two years. Students’ mental health (DASS-21), QoL (WHOQOL-Bref), and religiousness (DUREL) were evaluated in four different waves(four semesters). A total of 312 (54.2%) medical students responded to all four waves. Medical students demonstrated a high prevalence and incidence of emotional disorders. Almost half of the students presented high levels of depression, anxiety, and stress during the two-year follow-up; approximately one out of five students without symptoms at the baseline were considered new cases and these problems have a cyclical nature. Baseline factors such as depression, anxiety, stress, having low income, being female, being in the early stages of medical training and non-white were associated with poorer mental health and quality of life in the follow-up. Our results show that medical students have a high prevalence and incidence of mental health disorders during their medical training. This data may help educators plan preventive strategies.