PREVALENCE OF ANXIETY LEVELS AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS WORKING IN A UNIVERSITY’S CLINIC: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53843/bms.v11i15.1159Keywords:
Anxiety, Medical Students, Psychiatry, Psychic SymptomsAbstract
INTRODUCTION: Anxiety disorders represent the biggest group of mental health conditions with high prevalence among medical students, capable of causing significant physical and psychological impacts on those affected, interfering with their learning process. This study aimed to show the prevalence of anxiety levels, their risk factors, and impacts on medical students that worked in a university’s clinic. METHODS: This cross-sectional study evaluated 233 medical students from the 5th to 8th semesters between february and june 2024 through an on-line formulary with a questionnaire on epidemiological data, predisposing and aggravating factors, as with the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). RESULTS: 70.4% of the participants were female, with an average age of 22.81 ± 2.89 years, 44.6% had minimal or no anxiety, 27.5% had mild anxiety, 14.6% had moderate anxiety, and 13.3% had severe anxiety. Female students were 94.1% of those with moderate anxiety and 80.6% of those with severe anxiety. 21.9% of the students reported that the situation that caused the most anxiety was when performing physical exams, 71.0% of those with severe anxiety reported feeling insecure in clinical care, and 93.5% of those with severe anxiety reported prejudice on academic performance. CONCLUSION: These results highlight the importance of the presence and promotion of mental health care centers within universities, which can guide students and help alleviate symptoms of anxiety disorders, that way, improving academic performance.
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