The International journal of social psychiatry最新文献

Background: Medical students are under high pressure to perform academically and also face the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, putting them at risk of developing burnout.

Aims: This study aims to evaluate the prevalence and degree of burnout among medical students in Indonesia during 1 month of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: From April to May 2021, we conducted an online survey of Indonesian medical students to assess burnout (using Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey, MBI-SS).

Results: A total of 1,947 students from 27 universities participated in the study. About 35.5% had burnout, 41.7% with a moderate to high level of emotional exhaustion, 45% had moderate to high level of depersonalization and 66.7% had a low level of personal accomplishment.

Conclusion: A total of 35.5% of medical students in our sample experienced burnout. We suggest further research to explore and identify factors related to these findings and the need for potential interventions at global and national level to enhance the well-being of medical students.

Aims: A series of podcasts and videos was created to assist medical students with learning about suicide prevention. The aim of this research was to explore medical students experiences of using a suicide prevention learning resource.

Methods: A multimedia repository of learning resources for suicide prevention was designed and created for use across all years of the medical programme at The University of Auckland. Emphasis was placed on ensuring that the resource was culturally safe. The impact of the learning resource was evaluated with a qualitative approach using focus group methodology. Two focus groups were audio-recorded, transcribed and a thematic analysis was conducted employing three cycles of coding.

Results: Three themes were identified: perceiving that suicide is complex and sensitive; tailoring knowledge to match students' developmental stage and context; and elements that facilitated interaction with the resource.

Conclusions: Suicide is unsurprisingly a challenging topic for medical students. The students in this study actively engaged with this resource on suicide prevention, which supplemented their core learning of the topic. Early access to resources developed in a culturally safe way within a spiral curriculum empowers students to understand that they have an important contribution to make in preventing suicide. This may prepare them for encountering suicide with peers, family members and in clinical practice.

Background: The psychological wellbeing and stresses on medical students are currently under a global spotlight. Under a wider initiative supported by the British Medical Association (BMA), international surveys have been conducted to understand and begin to tackle these issues.

Method: This study aimed at describing the mental wellbeing and levels of burnout of Iranian medical students. A total of 179 medical students from 19 different cities participated voluntarily in the survey by answering an online questionnaire between April and August 2020. We detected a trend toward higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders (namely depressive disorders) and substance misuse when compared to previous national studies.

Results: About 6% of students screened positive for alcohol problems with the CAGE questionnaire. About 77% of medical students screened positive for mental health problems with the GHQ12 questionnaire. Very high rates of burnout were also reported. These findings emphasize the urgent need to define methods to screen at risk medical students and implement local and national initiatives to curtain their potential detrimental effects.

Research: There is abundant data revealing that there is significant rate of rates of Psychiatric morbidity, psychological stress, and burnout in the medical student population. A core study group in the UK collaborated with 12 countries around the world to review medical student wellness. In this context we surveyed 101 medical students at the Cummings medical school, Calgary, Canada during the height of the COVID pandemic regarding their wellbeing and mental health.

Results/main findings: Prior to medical school 27% reported a diagnosis with a mental disorder. Whilst at medical school 21% reported a mental health condition, most commonly an anxiety disorder and or depressive disorder. The most commonly reported source of stress was study at 81%, the second being relationships at 62%, money stress was a significant source of stress for 35%, and finally 10% reported accommodation or housing as stressful. Interestingly only 14% tested CAGE positive but 20% of students reported having taken a non-prescription substance to feel better or regulate their mood. Seventy-five percent of medical students met specific case criteria for exhaustion on the Oldenburg Burnout inventory 74% met criteria for the GHQ questionnaire.

Conclusions: These findings confirm that medical students are facing significant stressors during their training. These stressors include, in order of frequency, study, relational, financial, and accommodation issues. Nonprescription Substance use was a common finding as well as exhaustion and psychiatric morbidity. Future interventions pursued will have to address cultural issues as well as the organizational and individual determinates of stress.

Background: Increasing attention is being paid to medical students' mental wellbeing globally due in part to their exposure to stressors inherent in medical education and the numerous reports of elevated rates of mental health conditions in this population.

Aims: This study aimed to identify stressors and determine prevalence rates of psychiatric morbidity, substance use and burnout in a sample of Nigerian medical students.

Methods: In a cross-sectional online survey, 505 medical students from 25 Nigerian medical schools completed a socio-demographic questionnaire, short version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), the CAGE questionnaire and the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI).

Result: The most commonly reported sources of stress were study (75.6%), money (52.3%) and relationships (30.1%). Nine students (1.8%) had received a mental health diagnosis prior to medical school but this number had increased to 29 (5.7%) whilst in medical school, with the majority being cases of anxiety and depressive disorders. The prevalence of psychological distress was 54.5%, but <5% of affected students had received any help for their mental health conditions. Twenty five students (5%) met criteria for problematic alcohol use and 6% had used cannabis. The proportions of students who met criteria for disengagement and exhaustion domains of the OLBI were 84.6% and 77.0% respectively.

Conclusion: The prevalence of psychological distress and burnout is high among medical students. Interventions for medical students' well-being should be tailored to their needs and should target risk factors related to personal, organisational and medical school academic structure attributes.

Background: Medical students have been considered as a vulnerable group at higher risk of mental health issues during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Aims: We set out to detect symptoms of depression and anxiety in medical students in St. Petersburg (Russia) during the first wave of COVID-19 outbreak and explore the associations between psychosocial factors related to the pandemic and students' psychological well-being.

Method: An anonymous online survey of medical students was conducted in May-June 2020. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was used for screening anxiety and depression symptoms. The final sample consisted of 144 students (78.5% females).

Results: About 69.4% of respondents reported that COVID-19 pandemic and social restrictions were a new source of stress in their lives. More than one-third (38.9%) of respondents reported a need for psychological (emotional) support due to a change in their daily life during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the vast majority (83.9%) of these respondents indicated an increased need for support in this specific period. Symptoms of anxiety were reported by 55.8% of females (HADS score: 9.05 ± 4.69) and 48.4% of males (8.09 ± 5.0), and symptoms of depression were found in 38.9% of females (6.40 ± 3.57) and 41.9% of males (6.16 ± 3.21).

Conclusions: These findings indicate that it is necessary to develop additional measures for the prevention and early diagnosis of mental disorders along with right levels of support for wellbeing and mental health of medical students in this ongoing pandemic.

Background: Medical students in Denmark undertake a demanding 6-year course which is generally during a critical age for the development of psychiatric disorder and harmful substance or alcohol use behaviours. Previous literature has highlighted significant rates of distress in Danish students.

Aims: We surveyed medical students in Denmark to better understand wellbeing, psychiatric morbidity, sources of stress, substance and alcohol use, psychological distress and burnout.

Methods: Medical students were invited to participate in a single survey via email and social media which was completed through an online form, available for a 6-month period. The survey used a mixture of pre-defined answer options alongside free-text responses. Embedded within the survey were standardised and reliable specific instruments related to alcohol use (the CAGE questionnaire), overall psychological wellbeing and burnout.

Results: There were 647 respondents, with a quite even year-group distribution, representing just over 16% of total number of students attending medical school in Denmark. Prior to medical school 35% had visited a professional regarding their mental health. While at medical school 16% reported a diagnosis of a mental health condition. 83% reported significant stress from study. Around 7 in 10 met case criteria using instruments designed to test for minor psychiatric morbidity and burnout. 13% tested CAGE positive, whilst 4% reported concerns from themselves or others about their substance use.

Conclusions: Our study demonstrates high levels of psychiatric morbidity and worrying levels of burnout in this population. The striking 13% CAGE positive rate suggests this demographic is at risk of harm from alcohol. Our results suggest a high level of need to support this population - with further study required to demonstrate which interventions would be of most benefit for this population in light of our findings.

Background: Clinical recovery is often defined as remission of symptoms. Personal recovery is described as growing beyond the catastrophic effects of mental illness, sometimes despite ongoing symptoms.

Aims: To examine the relationship between the severity of clinical symptom domains and personal recovery in patients with severe mental illness (SMI).

Methods: Symptom severity and personal recovery of 105 outpatients with SMI at Mentrum, part of Arkin Institute for Mental Health in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, were assessed using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale-Expanded Version (BPRS-E) and the Mental Health Recovery Measure (MHRM). Correlation and regression analyses were used to investigate the associations.

Results: The multiple regression analysis showed that only affective symptoms significantly predicted personal recovery, whereas neither positive nor negative symptom severity added to the explained variance in the model.

Conclusion: The association between affective symptoms and personal recovery in patients with SMI implies that treatment of affective symptoms may advance personal recovery, and/or support of personal recovery may improve mood, whereas focussing on treatment of psychotic symptoms might not be the key to personal recovery. More research is needed to elucidate causal interrelations.