Assessment of depression, anxiety, stress, and cognitive parameters in medical students: A pilot study

Authors

  • Shomi Anand Associate Professor, Department of Physiology, Government Medical College and Associated Hospital, Rajouri, Jammu and Kashmir, India
  • Kirti Hemwani Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology, R. D. Gardi Medical College, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India
  • Sonu Ajmani Associate Professor, Department of Physiology, Heritage Institute of Medical Sciences, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India
  • Sai Sailesh Kumar Goothy Associate Professor, Department of Physiology, R. D. Gardi Medical College, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5838-3994
  • Anita Choudhary Professor and Head, Department of Physiology, R. D. Gardi Medical College, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3126/ajms.v14i2.49269

Keywords:

Depression; Anxiety; Stress; Cognition; Medical students

Abstract

Background: As there is an increase in mental health issues among medical students, it is mandatory to assess their mental health status. In our earlier studies, we observed differences in the scores of depression, anxiety, and stress between male and female students.

Aims and Objectives: The present study was undertaken to assess depression, anxiety, stress, and cognitive parameters in male and female medical students.

Materials and Methods: A total of 100 medical students’ males (n=50) and females (n=50) were part of the study after obtaining voluntary, written informed consent. The required sample size for the study was 97 with a 95% of confidence level, 10% of margin of error, and 50% of the population proportion. This means 97 or more measurements/surveys are needed to have a confidence level of 95% that the real value is within ±10% of the measured/surveyed value. Depression, anxiety, and stress were assessed using the DASS 21 questionnaire. Spatial and verbal memory test was administered to assess the cognitive functions.

Results: The depression scores were significantly higher (P<0.0001) in females when compared with males. Anxiety scores were significantly higher in females when compared with males (P<0.0001). Stress scores were significantly higher (P<0.0001) in females when compared with males. Spatial (P<0.0001) and verbal (P=0.0141) memory was significantly higher in females when compared with males.

Conclusion: There were significantly higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress scores in female students when compared with males. Further, spatial and verbal memory was also higher in females. There is a strong need for further detailed studies in this area and for adopting adequate management methods to manage negative psychological emotions in females.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
Abstract
120
PDF
144

Downloads

Published

2023-02-01

How to Cite

Shomi Anand, Kirti Hemwani, Sonu Ajmani, Sai Sailesh Kumar Goothy, & Anita Choudhary. (2023). Assessment of depression, anxiety, stress, and cognitive parameters in medical students: A pilot study. Asian Journal of Medical Sciences, 14(2), 214–217. https://doi.org/10.3126/ajms.v14i2.49269

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 2 (2023)

Section

Original Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Asian Journal of Medical Sciences

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. The journal holds copyright and publishes the work under a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC license that permits use, distribution and reprduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. The journal should be recognised as the original publisher of this work.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. 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 (See The Effect of Open Access).