Study of depression, anxiety and stress among first year Medical students in Government Medical College, Himachal Pradesh during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background: During COVID 19 pandemic many countries implied nationwide lockdown which affected academic and educational activities of medical students. We evaluated the level of depression, anxiety and stress among first MBBS students of Government Medical College, Himachal Pradesh.
 Aims and Objective: To estimate the level of depression, anxiety and stress among first MBBS students during COVID-19 pandemic and study its relationship with gender.
 Materials and Methods: A standard questionnaire DASS 21 (Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale) was administered to 110 first MBBS of Government Medical College, Himachal Pradesh. The responses were collected via Google form and scores evaluated.
 Results: The overall score for depression was 10.44±5.1, 10.94±5 for anxiety and 12.29±5.3 for stress. About 58 % participants had depression, 74% had anxiety & 32 % had stress in various grades of severity. Depression, anxiety & stress was more among females as compared to males (p<0.05). There was strong correlation among the scores of Depression, Anxiety & Stress among the participants (r >0.8).
 Conclusion: During this COVID-19 pandemic higher scores of depression, anxiety & stress were recorded among the first year MBBS students; females having more scores than male students. This study highlights the importance of and need for routine screening of depression, anxiety and stress among medical students.