Anxiety and Stress Among Undergraduate Medical Students of Haramaya University, Eastern Ethiopia

Prevalence and correlates of generalized anxiety disorder and perceived stress among Sudanese medical students

BACKGROUND

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) causes significant disturbance in an individual's well-being and activity. Whereby, interfering with the dynamic progress in life. Also, anxiety is a product of stress and a major predictor of academic performance. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), measure levels of anxiety and perceived stress, evaluate the academic profile, identify lifestyle characteristics, and explore the relationship between these factors.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, 340 Sudanese medical students filled out online questionnaires, composed of the sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics, academic profile, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2 scale (GAD-2), and Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10). Descriptive and inferential statistics were applied using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Version 20.0 for data analysis.

RESULTS

Of 340 medical students, 3.8% of them were diagnosed with GAD, while 29.1% scored ≥ 3 in GAD-2, indicating a possible diagnosis. The study found that 9.7% of the participants used addictive substances, with 42% of them having high GAD-2 scores. Moreover, high anxiety levels were associated with high-stress scores (p-value = 0.000). Also, high GAD-2 scores were significantly associated with students who spent less than 10,000 SDG (18 USD) weekly, spent more time on entertainment using smart devices (p-value = 0.004), and had an unhealthy diet (p-value = 0.004). Low anxiety levels were associated with better sleep quality (p-value = 0.00), satisfaction with religious practices (p-value = 0.00), and increased leisure/hobby time (p-value = 0.018). High-stress levels were observed in females (p-value = 0.035), those with lower academic performance satisfaction levels, and increased hours of smart device usage for entertainment (p-value = 0.001). Reduced stress levels were associated with being ≥ 23 years old, increased leisure/hobby time (p-value = 0.002), satisfaction with religious practices [F(3, 166.6) = 10.8, p-value = 0.00)], and having a healthy diet (p-value = 0.006).

CONCLUSION

The low prevalence of GAD corresponded with previous literature, but 29.1% of medical students had a high probability of having GAD. The study emphasizes on providing accessible mental health services for medical students and interventions addressing modifiable risk factors.

Unhealthy behaviors associated with mental health disorders: a systematic comparative review of diet quality, sedentary behavior, and cannabis and tobacco use

Background

There are well-established literatures documenting the associations between mental disorders and unhealthy behaviors such as poor diet quality, sedentary behavior, and cannabis and tobacco use. Few studies have attempted to understand the respective findings in light of each other, however.

Objective

The purpose of this review was to assemble comparable data for each behavior-disorder association and assess the associations in terms of their overall strength. The review aimed to include a representative, but not exhaustive, range of studies that would allow for explorative comparisons.

Methods

Eligible studies were identified via Pubmed searches and citation searching, restricted to publications no older than 2015 written in English. To obtain comparable data, only studies that reported findings as odds ratios were included, and risk of bias related to study samples, behavioral measurement disparities, and control variables was assessed via sensitivity analyses. Findings for each disorder were compared on the basis of different measures of central tendency.

Results

From 3,682 records, 294 studies were included. The review found evidence of associations between each of the four unhealthy behaviors and psychosis, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), while personality disorder was only investigated in relation to cannabis and tobacco use. In overall comparison, the associations were generally of similar strength, and only the association between cannabis use and personality disorder was exceptional in terms of being significantly stronger than its counterparts across disorders and across behaviors. Analyses of bias risk identified some influence from behavioral measurement disparities and lack of adequate statistical control, but findings were generally robust across a range of sensitivity analyses.

Conclusion

This explorative and comparative review found that poor diet quality, sedentary behavior, and cannabis and tobacco use are about equally strongly associated with a range of different mental disorders. Given the general nature of these associations, we should probably understand them to reflect a general and shared etiology. However, the findings in this review should be regarded as tentative until confirmed by more comprehensive investigations.

Exploring the Relationship Between Stress and Satisfaction During Clinical Training Among Respiratory Therapy Students: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Survey

Background

Although clinical training is an important component of healthcare education, it is nevertheless a significant source of stress for students. There is limited information on stress and satisfaction perceived by clinical-level undergraduate students studying respiratory therapy (RT) in Saudi Arabia.

Methods

A descriptive, cross-sectional study design with an online questionnaire was employed to conduct this study. Data collection occurred during the academic year 2022-2023 among RT students throughout Saudi Arabia. Patricians responded to demographic questions, the Students Stress Scale and Students Professional Satisfaction questionnaires. Descriptive, inferential, and correlational statistics were used to analyze the collected responses.

Results

A total of 1001 undergraduate RT students completed the online survey. RT students and interns had an overall moderate to high stress level (mean (SD); 3.55 (0.49)), while satisfaction was perceived as mild to moderate (mean (SD): 2.56 (0.65)). In addition, 38% of the study participants have considered quitting the RT program. Female students showed higher stress levels in the following domains: inadequate knowledge and training, adverse and embarrassing experiences, clinical supervision, patients' pain, and Education-reality conflict (p<0.005) compared to male students. Additionally, students who considered quitting the RT program revealed higher stress levels in all domains (p<0.005). There were negative correlations between satisfaction and stress domains: inadequate knowledge and training (r = -0.32; p = 0.001), adverse and embarrassing experience (r = -0.31; p = 0.025), close supervision (r = -0.24; p = 0.001), insufficient hospital resources (r = -0.30; p 0.002), patients' pain and suffering (r = 0.28; p = 0.04), and education - reality conflict (r = -0.30; p = 0.001).

Conclusion

During clinical training, respiratory therapy students experience moderate to high-stress levels and low satisfaction. There need to be tailored interventions to reduce stress and intention to quit and increase students' clinical experience satisfaction.