Estudo longitudinal de preocupação, ansiedade e depressão em estudantes de medicina

Abstract

Introduction: The prevalence of anxiety and depression disorders is a significant concern, and this issue is alarmingly prominent among medical students and professionals. In medical students, the early onset of significant levels of anxiety and concomitant mental disorders is commonly observed, attributed to the intense academic workload, sleep deprivation, peer pressure, among other factors inherent in medical training. This research aimed to quantify the prevalence of mental disorders, namely anxiety, depression, and stress, among students of the Medicine course at Unicentro at the beginning and end of the first year of the course and at the beginning of the internship period, additionally exploring possible disparities in prevalence between genders. Materials and methods: A longitudinal observational study was conducted during the first academic year of the Medicine course at the State University of Midwestern Paraná (UNICENTRO) and at the beginning of the internship, in the same class, at the same university. Clinical and sociodemographic data were acquired. All surveyed students underwent psychological evaluations through standardized instruments and cortisol measurement to assess stress levels at the beginning and end of the first academic year. The applied instruments included the BDI-II- Beck Depression Inventory, EPD- Depressive Thoughts Scale, Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire (TAG), and Penn State University’s Worry Questionnaires. Results and Discussion: When comparing data on Anxiety, Depression, Worry, Low Self-esteem/Hopelessness, and Relationship Functionality between the first year of the medical course and the end of the fourth year, we identified a significant reduction (p 0.004) in moderate and severe anxiety and worry indices (p 0.006) among students. Regarding gender, a higher prevalence of anxiety was identified among female students (p=0.042). As for the impact of variables such as Sleep, Relationship, BMI, Smoking, Alcoholism, Living alone, and Progress Test Performance, there was a significant relationship (p=0.022) only with sleep. Subjects who had sleep classified as non-ideal (NI) in 2019 and changed to ideal (I) in 2023 had a greater reduction in anxiety than those who were classified with NI sleep at both times. Conclusion: The mental health of medical students is a crucial issue that should be taken seriously by medical schools, creating strategies for primary and secondary prevention of anxiety, worry, and depression, to ensure that students can deal with the pressures and challenges of the medical profession in a healthy and sustainable way.