Stephanie Neary, MPA, MMS, PA-C, is an adjunct assistant professor and the director of didactic in Department of General Internal Medicine at for the Yale University Physician Assistant Online Program, New Haven, Connecticut.
Mary Ruggeri, MEd, MMSc, PA-C, is a recent graduate in Department of General Internal Medicine at the Yale University Physician Assistant Online Program, New Haven, Connecticut.
J Physician Assist Educ. 2021 Sep 1;32(3):138-142. doi: 10.1097/JPA.0000000000000369.
The purpose of this study was to assess how physician assistant (PA) student depression risk, suicidal ideation, and mental health help-seeking behaviors change during didactic training and the relationship between depression risk and demographic factors.
Data were obtained through an anonymous online survey sent to didactic students in 7 PA programs during orientation and again at midpoint of the didactic year. Descriptive statistics, independent samples t-testing, and one-way ANOVA analyses were used to assess trends in patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9) scores over the 6-month time period. The PHQ-9 is the module of the PHQ that measures severity of depression risk.
The orientation survey response rate was 82.7% (287/347) and the midpoint survey response rate was 62% (217/350). Analysis revealed that mean PHQ-9 scores increased significantly from 2.49 to 6.42 (p < 0.001) from orientation to midpoint of the didactic year, with 18.9% of students having scores of 10 or greater at midpoint compared to 4.5% at orientation. Thoughts of self-harm and/or suicidal ideation in the past 2 weeks also increased from 3.5% to 7.4% during the same time frame. Additionally, students' likelihood of seeking mental health help decreased between orientation and midpoint despite the concurrent increases in depression risk and suicidal ideation.
Rising PHQ-9 scores indicated an increased risk of major depression among didactic-year PA students. Further research on early screening methods and factors that encourage help-seeking behaviors may serve to inform programs about how to create learning environments that mitigate depression risk and promote wellbeing during professional training.
本研究旨在评估医学生助理（PA）学生在理论培训期间的抑郁风险、自杀意念和心理健康寻求帮助行为的变化，以及抑郁风险与人口统计学因素之间的关系。
通过在 7 个 PA 项目的理论学生入学期间和理论年中点向他们发送匿名在线调查，获得数据。使用描述性统计、独立样本 t 检验和单因素方差分析来评估患者健康问卷（PHQ-9）分数在 6 个月期间的趋势。PHQ-9 是 PHQ 的一个模块，用于衡量抑郁风险的严重程度。
入学调查的回复率为 82.7%（287/347），中点调查的回复率为 62%（217/350）。分析表明，从入学到理论年中点，PHQ-9 平均分数从 2.49 显著增加到 6.42（p<0.001），有 18.9%的学生在中点时的分数为 10 或更高，而入学时为 4.5%。在过去的 2 周内，有自杀念头和/或自杀意念的学生也从 3.5%增加到 7.4%。此外，尽管抑郁风险和自杀意念同时增加，但学生在入学和中点之间寻求心理健康帮助的可能性降低。
PHQ-9 分数的上升表明理论年 PA 学生的重度抑郁症风险增加。进一步研究早期筛查方法和鼓励寻求帮助行为的因素，可能有助于告知项目如何在专业培训期间创造减轻抑郁风险和促进幸福感的学习环境。
