Medical students and mental health: prevalence of psychopathology symptoms and associated factors during COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract

Introduction: Medical Students are at elevated risk of suffering a psychopathology and the COVID-19 pandemic has risen the prevalence of such pathologies in the population. Method: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study for prevalence determination applying a series of self-applied instruments (BDI-2, BAI, OCI-R, PANSI, and DAST-10) to a representative sample of freshmen to determine possible diagnoses of psychopathology. Data obtained was analysed using SPSS 27 Results: 59% showed symptomatology of at least one of studied psychopathologies. 47.8% showed more than one diagnosis, being the more frequent morbidities depression-anxiety (16.4%) and depression-anxiety-OCD (16.4%). The risk for presenting a psychopathology quadrupled (OR=4.3, p=0.05) in those who had a negative emotional impact by COVID-19. Students living by themselves had four times the risk (OR=4.1, p=0.06) of showing a psychiatric diagnosis than hose who live with any kind of companions. Conclusion: the mental health of Medical Students should be closely observed, and mental health interventions directed to social support systems publicized and applied.