STRESSORS ASSOCIATED WITH CHANGE IN ACADEMIC AND SOCIAL ATTRIBUTES DUE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND THEIR PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT ON MEDICAL STUDENTS
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To identify the stressors related to academic online teaching and the change in social norms during the pandemic and to assess their psychological impact on the medical students.
METHODS: A web based, descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at Hazrat Bari Imam Sarkar Medical and Dental College, Islamabad Pakistan over a period of 4 months using an Online questionnaire via Google forms based on Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS21) scale comprising of 21 questions which address the depression, anxiety, and stress related questions. The modified questionnaire also contained open ended questions along with a short questionnaire based on 3 points Likert scale.
RESULTS: Total of 305 subjects participated. Mean (±SD) severity score for Depression, anxiety and stress was 2.02± 1.3, 1.76±1.25 and 1.66±1.15 respectively. Highly significant positive correlation was observed between depression and stress score of subjects and history of COVID-19 infection in an acquaintance (r=0.179, p=<0.01) and (0.132, p=<0.001) respectively; between depression and stress score of subjects and history of acquaintance who expired due to COVID-19 (r=0.198, p<0.01) and s (r=0.25, p<0.01) respectively; distraction during online classes and depression and stress score (r=0.233, p<0.01) and (r=0.236, p<0.01) respectively and worry about effect on clinical skills due to teaching through online sessions and depression (r=0.161,p<0.01) .
CONCLUSION: The stressors related to change in the academic activities and social norms due to SARS-CoV-2 has had significant psychological impact on the mental health of students which requires attention and formal counselling.
Article Details
Work published in KMUJ is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online
(e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
References
Gewin V. Five tips for moving teaching online as COVID-19 takes hold. Nature 2020;580(7802):295-6. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-00896-7.
Education TCoH. As Coronavirus spreads, the decision to move classes online is the first step. What comes next? 2020 [Accessed On: December 02, 2020]. Available from URL: https://www.chronicle.com/article/As-Coronavirus-Spreads-the/248200.
Quek TT, Tam WW, Tran BX, Zhang M, Zhang Z, Ho CS, et al. The global prevalence of anxiety among medical students: a meta-analysis. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2019;16(15):2735. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16152735.
Sreeramareddy CT, Shankar PR, Binu VS, Mukhopadhyay C, Ray B, Menezes RG. Psychological morbidity, sources of stress and coping strategies among undergraduate medical students of Nepal. BMC Med Educ 2007;7:26. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6920-7-26.
Sprang G, Silman M. Posttraumatic stress disorder in parents and youth after health-related disasters. Disaster Med Public Health Prep 2013;7(1):105-10. https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2013.22.
Liu X, Kakade M, Fuller CJ, Fan B, Fang Y, Kong J, et al. Depression after exposure to stressful events: lessons learned from the severe acute respiratory syndrome epidemic. Compr Psychiatr 2012;53(1):15-23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2011.02.003.
Taylor MR, Agho KE, Stevens GJ, Raphael B. Factors influencing psychological distress during a disease epidemic: data from Australia's first outbreak of equine influenza. BMC Public Health 2008;8:347. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-8-347.
Wu P, Fang Y, Guan Z, Fan B, Kong J, Yao Z, et al. The psychological impact of the SARS epidemic on hospital employees in China: exposure, risk perception, and altruistic acceptance of risk. Can J Psychiatr 2009;54(5):302-11. https://doi.org/10.1177/070674370905400504.
Bai Y, Lin CC, Lin CY, Chen JY, Chue CM, Chou P. Survey of stress reactions among health care workers involved with the SARS outbreak. Psychiatr Serv 2004;55(9):1055-7. https://doi.org/ 10.1176/appi.ps.55.9.1055.
Henry JD, Crawford JR. The short-form version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21): construct validity and normative data in a large non-clinical sample. Br J Clin Psychol 2005;44(2):227-39. https://doi.org/10.1348/014466505X29657.
Zivin K, Eisenberg D, Gollust SE, Golberstein E. Persistence of mental health problems and needs in a college student population. J Affect Disord 2009;117(3):180-5. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.jad.2009.01.001.
Beiter R, Nash R, McCrady M, Rhoades D, Linscomb M, Clarahan M, et al. The prevalence and correlates of depression, anxiety, and stress in a sample of college students. J Affect Disord 2015;173:90-6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2014.10.054.
Cao W, Fang Z, Hou G, Han M, Xu X, Dong J, et al. The psychological impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on college students in China. Psychiatry Res 2020;287:112934. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112934.
Wang C, Zhao H. The impact of COVID-19 on anxiety in Chinese university students. Front Psychol 2020;11:1168. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01168.
Wang C, Pan R, Wan X, Tan Y, Xu L, Ho CS, et al. Immediate psychological responses and associated factors during the initial stage of the 2019 coronavirus disease (Covid-19) epidemic among the general population in China. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2020;17(5):1729. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051729.
Aker S, Mıdık Ö. The views of medical faculty students in Turkey concerning the COVID-19 pandemic. J Community Health 2020;45(4):684-88. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-020-00841-9.
Banerjee D. The COVID-19 outbreak: Crucial role the psychiatrists can play. Asian J Psychiatr 2020;50:102014. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102014.
Bao Y, Sun Y, Meng S, Shi J, Lu L. 2019-nCoV epidemic: address mental health care to empower society. Lancet 2020;395(10224):e37-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30309-3.
Xiang YT, Yang Y, Li W, Zhang L, Zhang Q, Cheung T, et al. Timely mental health care for the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak is urgently needed. Lancet Psychiatr 2020;7(3):228-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30046-8.