Prevalence of Emotional Disorders Among Students of University of Medical Sciences; Iran

Abstract

© Akbari et al.; Licensee Bentham Open. Background: No nation-wide data are available on mental disorders in medical students. Such information can be useful for having a proper approach to and intervention for our students' health condition. Aim: To determine the mental health status in all of the students who study in one medical university. Methods: After invitation of all 790 students, 688 accepted to take part in this cross sectional study. We used the 28-items of General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) to evaluate mental health status. Results: Over one third (37.8%) of our participants had mental disorders. There was no difference between genders. Emergency medicine students had the most prevalence of mental disorders (51.4%). The increase in the years of education was associated with that of the risk of involvement. Social dysfunction and depression were more prevalent than somatization and anxiety symptoms. Lower level of graduation was associated with higher depressive symptoms and medical students were at higher risk for social dysfunction. Conclusion: Prevalence rates among the students of the medical university are higher in comparison with the population and needs serial evaluation plans to screen and prevent mental disorders in this part of the population.