Abstract
Background: Medical Curriculum is highly stressful. Stepping into a new environment, huge course syllabus which has to be mastered in a short period of time besides continuous assessments, examinations and other social and personal issues makes a newly joined medical student prone to develop negative emotional symptoms.
Objective: This study is an attempt to assess the level of depression, anxiety and stress among first year medical students.
Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted on 97 first year medical students of ASCOMS, Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir, India. Depression, anxiety and stress was assessed by administering a self reporting DASS-42 questionnaire. Statistical analysis- SPSS version 16 was used for statistical analysis and Pearson Chi-square was applied for statistical significance.
Results: There was significant level of depression, anxiety and stress among first year medical students. The mean depression, anxiety and stress score was 1.31±1.38, 1.71±1.3 and 1.08±1.41 respectively. The prevalence of depression was 58.76% , anxiety was 69.07% % and stress was 54.63%.The incidence of depression and anxiety was highest which showed statistical significance (p<0.05) and females were affected more than males.
Conclusion: A significant proportion of first year medical students are affected with depression, anxiety and stress. The impact of negative emotional symptoms and the relevant contributing factors have to be understood. Early and timely intervention should be done addressing the negative psychological states.
Keywords: Stress, Anxiety, Depression.
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DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v5i6.208
