Prevalence of mental distress among undergraduate medical students at Majmaah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Talal Alghamdi; Tahir Ansari; Fahad Alfahaid; Mansour Alzaharani; Mohammed Almansour; Waqas Sami; Abdulkreem Alnasser; Ibrahim Almutiri; Turki Alanazi; Shoaib Albader

doi:10.5455/mjhs.2017.02.008

Original Article

Majmaah J Heal Sci. 2017; 5(2): 66-75

doi: 10.5455/mjhs.2017.02.008

Prevalence of mental distress among undergraduate medical students at Majmaah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Talal Alghamdi, Tahir Ansari, Fahad Alfahaid, Mansour Alzaharani, Mohammed Almansour, Waqas Sami, Abdulkreem Alnasser, Ibrahim Almutiri, Turki Alanazi, Shoaib Albader.

Cited By: 2

Abstract
Background: Medical Education and Medical Profession are among the most challenging and stressful ones. It also poses many new, challenging and potentially threatening situational demands on the incoming students. Anxiety and depression represents an escalating public health problem among medical students.

Objectives: The objectives of the study were; to find the prevalence of mental distress among undergraduate medical students studying at College of Medicine, Majmaah University; to explore associations between socio-demographic characteristics and mental distress and to identify mental health and support service needs at Majmaah University for distressed students.

Methods: It was a cross-sectional study. The data was collected from undergraduate medical students of either gender studying at College of Medicine, Majmaah University using complete enumeration method. General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) was used to collect the data from 162 students.

Result: The prevalence of mental distress among students was 35.8%. Psychosocial disorder (27.2%) was the most prevalent among students, followed by anxiety (24.7%), somatic (14.2%) and depression (10.5%). Male students had higher mental distress as compared to female students (67.6% vs 43.5%, p<0.001). Moreover, third year students had higher anxiety level (42.1%) as compared to other year students p<0.001.

Conclusion: Medical students encountered high rates of anxiety and depression. Male students were more mentally distressed as compared to female students. Anxiety was more prevalent in 3 rd year students as compared to other groups. Educating the students through stress management programs and counselling them through mental health units in the College may help in overall reduction of mental distress.

Key words: Mental distress, Stress, Medical students, Anxiety, Depression

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How to Cite this Article

Pubmed Style

Alghamdi T, Ansari T, Alfahaid F, Alzaharani M, Almansour M, Sami W, Alnasser A, Almutiri I, Alanazi T, Albader S. Prevalence of mental distress among undergraduate medical students at Majmaah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Majmaah J Heal Sci. 2017; 5(2): 66-75. doi:10.5455/mjhs.2017.02.008

Web Style

Alghamdi T, Ansari T, Alfahaid F, Alzaharani M, Almansour M, Sami W, Alnasser A, Almutiri I, Alanazi T, Albader S. Prevalence of mental distress among undergraduate medical students at Majmaah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. https://www.mjhs-mu.org/?mno=294059 [Access: August 21, 2023]. doi:10.5455/mjhs.2017.02.008

AMA (American Medical Association) Style

Alghamdi T, Ansari T, Alfahaid F, Alzaharani M, Almansour M, Sami W, Alnasser A, Almutiri I, Alanazi T, Albader S. Prevalence of mental distress among undergraduate medical students at Majmaah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Majmaah J Heal Sci. 2017; 5(2): 66-75. doi:10.5455/mjhs.2017.02.008

Vancouver/ICMJE Style

Alghamdi T, Ansari T, Alfahaid F, Alzaharani M, Almansour M, Sami W, Alnasser A, Almutiri I, Alanazi T, Albader S. Prevalence of mental distress among undergraduate medical students at Majmaah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Majmaah J Heal Sci. (2017), [cited August 21, 2023]; 5(2): 66-75. doi:10.5455/mjhs.2017.02.008

Harvard Style

Alghamdi, T., Ansari, . T., Alfahaid, . F., Alzaharani, . M., Almansour, . M., Sami, . W., Alnasser, . A., Almutiri, . I., Alanazi, . T. & Albader, . S. (2017) Prevalence of mental distress among undergraduate medical students at Majmaah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Majmaah J Heal Sci, 5 (2), 66-75. doi:10.5455/mjhs.2017.02.008

Turabian Style

Alghamdi, Talal, Tahir Ansari, Fahad Alfahaid, Mansour Alzaharani, Mohammed Almansour, Waqas Sami, Abdulkreem Alnasser, Ibrahim Almutiri, Turki Alanazi, and Shoaib Albader. 2017. Prevalence of mental distress among undergraduate medical students at Majmaah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Majmaah Journal of Health Sciences, 5 (2), 66-75. doi:10.5455/mjhs.2017.02.008

Chicago Style

Alghamdi, Talal, Tahir Ansari, Fahad Alfahaid, Mansour Alzaharani, Mohammed Almansour, Waqas Sami, Abdulkreem Alnasser, Ibrahim Almutiri, Turki Alanazi, and Shoaib Albader. "Prevalence of mental distress among undergraduate medical students at Majmaah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia." Majmaah Journal of Health Sciences 5 (2017), 66-75. doi:10.5455/mjhs.2017.02.008

MLA (The Modern Language Association) Style

Alghamdi, Talal, Tahir Ansari, Fahad Alfahaid, Mansour Alzaharani, Mohammed Almansour, Waqas Sami, Abdulkreem Alnasser, Ibrahim Almutiri, Turki Alanazi, and Shoaib Albader. "Prevalence of mental distress among undergraduate medical students at Majmaah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia." Majmaah Journal of Health Sciences 5.2 (2017), 66-75. Print. doi:10.5455/mjhs.2017.02.008

APA (American Psychological Association) Style

Alghamdi, T., Ansari, . T., Alfahaid, . F., Alzaharani, . M., Almansour, . M., Sami, . W., Alnasser, . A., Almutiri, . I., Alanazi, . T. & Albader, . S. (2017) Prevalence of mental distress among undergraduate medical students at Majmaah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Majmaah Journal of Health Sciences, 5 (2), 66-75. doi:10.5455/mjhs.2017.02.008

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About Majmaah Journal of Health Sciences Majmaah Journal of Health Sciences Majmaah Journal of Health Sciences is the official journal published by Majmaah University which is committed at bei ... Read more. For best results, please use Internet Explorer or Google Chrome.	Contact Information Center for Publishing and Translation, Majmaah University, Post Box. 66, AlMajmaah 11952, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Email: mjhs@mu.edu.sa