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Título

STABILITY ON MENTAL HEALTH IN MEDICAL STUDENTS BEFORE AND DURING COVID-19, A PROSPECTIVE STUDY

Introdução

Common mental disorders (CMDs) are indicators of non-psychotic mental problems that can have socioeconomic impacts. Few prospective studies evaluate medical students' mental health. Due to the Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) people had to isolate themselves to protect and prevent COVID-19 contamination and teaching activities in pre-internship medical school were mainly remote.

Objetivo

Prospectively evaluate the prevalence of CMDs in medical students before and during COVID-19 quarantine.

Método

Students were invited to participate in the years 2018, 2019, and 2020. CMDs were evaluated through the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) created by the World Health Organization to screen for emotional distress. SRQ-20 is composed of 20 questions with yes/no answers (the cut-off point used was 7). The Ethics Committee approved this protocol. Groups were compared using the Qui-square test for categorical variables and the Kruskall-Wallis test for continuous variables.

Resultados

In the years 2018, 2019, and during COVID-19 2020 quarantine 860 students responded to the questionnaires. The mean age was 22.6±3.7 years and 64.3% were female. SRQ-20≥7 (above the cut-off for CMD) frequency was 60.5% and mean scores were 8.2±4.6. No difference was found in the sample in the years 2018, 2019, and 2020 both for SRQ-20≥7 (62.2%, 60.9%, and 59.2%, respectively p=0.762) and SRQ scores (8.4±4.7, 8.2±4.6, and 7.8±4.4, respectively p=0.351). The first-year class in 2018 did not change SRQ -20≥7 frequencies in 2019 and 2020: 66.7%, 72.3%, and 64.0%, respectively (p=0.568), nor SRQ scores: 9.1±4.7, 9.5±4.3 and 8.6±4.5, respectively (p=0.502). The second-year class in 2018 did not change SRQ -20≥7 frequencies in 2019 and 2020: 65.6%, 66.2%, and 61.1%, respectively (p=0.812), nor SRQ scores: 8.7±4.7, 8.7±4.5 and 8.1±4.5, respectively (p=0.620). The third-year class in 2018 did not change SRQ -20≥7 frequencies in 2019 and 2020 (in internship): 55.2%, 52.6%, and 48.8%, respectively (p=0.782), nor SRQ scores: 7.7±5.1, 7.2±4.9 and 6.6±4.7, respectively (p=0.491). Finally, the fourth-year class in 2018 did not change SRQ -20≥7 frequencies in 2019 and 2020: 60.3%, 42.9%, and 59.0%, respectively (p=0.258), nor SRQ scores: 8.0±4.3, 6.8±4.4 and 7.7±4.0, respectively (p=0.318).

Conclusão

The stability of mental health measures was found for both distance learning programs and internships. In 2020, the maintenance of daily routines and the continuation of adapted internship activities could have contributed to these results.

Palavras-chave

Medical students; Mental health; COVID-19

Área

Outros Transtornos Psiquiátricos