Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Medical students often experience high levels of stress, anxiety, and depression due to the demanding nature of their studies. Academic pressure can be a significant factor in the development of stress, depression, and anxiety among medical students. The situation may deteriorate if these students have personal, academic, or institutional problems. Hence, this study was planned to identify the prevalence of mental health problems among medical students and their association with personal, academic, and institutional issues.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study among medical students from Sangli District, Maharashtra, India. Data were collected using a predesigned and pretested questionnaire. Chi-square and multivariate regression analysis were used for the statistical analysis. Microsoft Office 365 and SPSS 22 were used for analysis purposes.
RESULTS: A significant proportion of medical students reported experiencing symptoms of mental health challenges: 50.0% depression, 73.6% anxiety, and 22.2% stress. The significant predictors for depression were birth order, physical health, and religiosity; for anxiety-age, upbringing, and stress; gender, year in which they are studying, upbringing, birth order, and physical health. By using binary logistic regression, it was found that personal issues are significant predictors related to depression, anxiety, and stress.
CONCLUSION: Various academic, personal, and institutional issues were contributing to mental health problems among medical students. A robust support system is required to identify and alleviate these problems, which can empower them to cope with challenges and succeed in their academic challenges.