فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

BACKGROUND: Medical education is competitive across the globe. The long duration of the medicaland paramedical courses and exposure to clinical settings potentially causes mental health issues.The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress amongundergraduate students in a private medical college in South India.MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross‑sectional study was conducted among paramedical andmedical students at a private medical college hospital and research center in South India in theyear 2021. The required sample size was calculated as 783 with an expected prevalence of 53%,95% confidence interval (CI), design effect 2.0, and non‑response of 10%. The study participantswere selected based on simple random sampling. After obtaining informed consent, the data wascollected using an email questionnaire. Standard data collection tools such as the Perceived StressScale (PSS); and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale ‑ 21 (DASS‑21) questionnaire wereused. The investigator computed the odds ratio (OR) and adjusted odds ratio (aOR) with a 95% CI.RESULTS: Out of 1200 students, 1015 (85%) responded to the email questionnaire. Among them, 639were females (63%), and 925 were paramedics (91%). Prevalence of depression, anxiety and stresswere 59%, 43% and 11%, respectively. Almost 95% of students experienced moderate‑to‑severestress in the last one month. Prevalence was higher among females and students of medicalcourses. Students of final year of college (aOR = 2.0; 95% CI = 1.2–3.5) and students of medicalcourse (aOR = 1.5; 95% CI = 1.1–2.4) were independently associated with stress among the studyparticipants.CONCLUSION: There is high prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among medical collegestudents in south India. The final year of study and medical course were independently associatedwith higher stress than others. We recommend periodic assessment of mental health status andadditional mental health care for final year students and medical students.