Halperin Scott J, Henderson Matthew N, Prenner Sofia, Grauer Jonathan N
Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
J Med Educ Curric Dev. 2021 Feb 15;8:2382120521991150. doi: 10.1177/2382120521991150. eCollection 2021 Jan-Dec.
The Covid-19 pandemic is a public health emergency with both physical and mental health risks. Medical students have baseline elevated rates of anxiety, depression and burnout. As such, they may be especially susceptible to the psychological stresses of Covid-19. The current study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of anxiety and depression among United States medical students during the Covid-19 pandemic.
A cross-sectional, survey-based study collected demographic data as well as the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) and the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) to assess anxiety and depression symptoms, respectively. The survey was administered from April 13, 2020 to April 28, 2020 amidst the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
A total of 1,428 students from 40 US medical schools completed the survey. From those surveyed, 30.6% and 24.3% of respondents screened positive for anxiety and depression, respectively. Median GAD-7 scores were higher among females (7.0 vs 5.0, < .00001), pre-clinical students (7.0 vs 6.0, < .00004), and those with a friend or relative diagnosed with Covid-19 (7.0 vs 6.0, =.001). Median PHQ-9 scores were higher among females (6.0 vs 4.0, < .00001) and pre-clinical students (6.0 vs 4.0, < .00001).
When compared to previous medical student studies, these results are 61% higher for anxiety and 70% higher for depression during the Covid-19 era. The current study suggests that there should be a heightened awareness of and sensitivity to student's mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic with certain cohorts at greater potential risk.
新冠疫情是一场对身心健康都有风险的公共卫生突发事件。医学生本身焦虑、抑郁和职业倦怠的发生率就偏高。因此，他们可能特别容易受到新冠疫情带来的心理压力影响。本研究旨在评估新冠疫情期间美国医学生焦虑和抑郁的患病率。
一项基于调查的横断面研究收集了人口统计学数据，以及分别用于评估焦虑和抑郁症状的7项广泛性焦虑障碍量表（GAD-7）和9项患者健康问卷（PHQ-9）。该调查于2020年4月13日至20日在新冠疫情高峰期进行。
来自美国40所医学院的1428名学生完成了调查。在接受调查的学生中，分别有30.6%和24.3%的受访者焦虑和抑郁筛查呈阳性。女性（7.0对5.0，<0.00001）、临床前学生（7.0对6.0，<0.00004）以及有朋友或亲属被诊断感染新冠的学生（7.0对6.0，=0.001）的GAD-7中位数得分更高。女性（6.0对4.0，<0.00001）和临床前学生（6.0对4.0，<0.00001）的PHQ-9中位数得分更高。
与之前针对医学生的研究相比，在新冠疫情期间，这些结果显示焦虑患病率高出61%，抑郁患病率高出70%。本研究表明，在新冠疫情期间，应提高对学生心理健康的认识和敏感度，某些群体面临的潜在风险更大。
