Volume 27, Issue 135, May 2023

Burden of pandemic COVID-19 on medical students perceived psychological stress in Saudi Arabia

Naif Alrudian^♦

Assistant Professor and Consultant of Family Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Al Kharj 11942, Saudi Arabia

^♦Corresponding author
Assistant Professor and Consultant of Family Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al Kharj 11942, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Due to various factors, medical students are at higher risk of perceived stress than the general population during the pandemic (COVID-19). This study was planned to assess the stress levels and the occurrence of various mental health issues among graduate medical students in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Following scales were used for this study - 1) DSM-5 Self-Rated Level 1 Cross-Cutting Symptom Measure-Adult (CCSM-A) – for assessing the prevalence of common mental health issues, 2) Perceived Stress Scale to assess perceived stress and 3) Student Stress due to COVID-19. Questionnaire to assess global stress score related to COVID-19. 123 participants were contacted, out of which 109 (88.6%) agreed to participate in the study. The most of the students (33.9%) were from the second academic year. Anxiety (72%) and depressive symptoms (70%) were the most common symptoms reported by the students as per the CCSM-A scale. The mean (SD) perceived stress score and global stress score was 18.3 (5.7) and 7.6 (5.4), respectively. Anger, suicidal ideation and substance use were significantly associated with the year of study after adjusting for age and self-perceived COVID risk. Graduate medical students experience a significant burden of mental health conditions. Periodic mental health assessment and provision of early and adequate mental health services to those in need are the need of the hour in the post-pandemic recovery phase.

Keywords: COVID-19, Stress, Saudi Arabia, Medical students, Mental health

Medical Science, 2023, 27, e231ms3044

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi/v27i135/e231ms3044

Published: 22 May 2023