Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Front Public Health. 2024 Apr 12;12:1371628. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1371628. eCollection 2024.
Medical students experience high levels of stress, often due to academic demands, which can adversely affect their mental health. However, they frequently hesitate to seek and underutilise available mental health services. This study aimed to assess the perceived need for mental health services and identify the barriers to seeking help among undergraduate medical students.
This cross-sectional study recruited 480 undergraduate medical students from two main universities in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Data were collected through an online, self-administered questionnaire that encompassed sections on sociodemographic details, the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), perceptions about the necessity for professional mental health care, service utilisation over the past year, and the Barriers to Access to Care Evaluation (BACE-III).
The study found that 33.6% of the participants showed signs of depression. Even though 42.5% expressed a perceived need for mental health services, only 16.2% actually utilised these services in the previous 12 months. In terms of barriers, attitudinal-related barriers received the highest mean score, followed by stigma- and instrumental-related barriers. Notably, students who had previously experienced academic failure and those who had sought mental health services were more inclined to report stigma- and instrumental-related barriers.
Mental health challenges are notably prevalent among undergraduate medical students. Although there is a significant perceived need for professional mental health intervention, the actual utilisation rate remains low. The primary obstacles to seeking assistance are attitudinal and stigma-related barriers.
医学生承受着较高的压力，通常是由于学业要求，这可能对他们的心理健康产生不利影响。然而，他们往往犹豫不决，不愿意寻求和充分利用现有的心理健康服务。本研究旨在评估医学生对心理健康服务的需求，并确定寻求帮助的障碍。
本横断面研究从沙特阿拉伯东部的两所主要大学招募了 480 名本科医学生。通过在线自填式问卷收集数据，问卷涵盖了社会人口统计学细节、患者健康问卷 (PHQ-9)、对专业心理健康护理需求的看法、过去一年的服务利用情况以及获取护理评估障碍量表 (BACE-III)。
研究发现，33.6%的参与者有抑郁迹象。尽管 42.5%的人表示需要心理健康服务，但只有 16.2%的人在过去 12 个月内实际使用了这些服务。在障碍方面，与态度相关的障碍得分最高，其次是与耻辱感和工具性相关的障碍。值得注意的是，曾经历过学业失败和寻求过心理健康服务的学生更倾向于报告耻辱感和工具性相关的障碍。
心理健康问题在本科医学生中明显普遍存在。尽管存在对专业心理健康干预的显著需求，但实际利用率仍然较低。寻求帮助的主要障碍是态度和耻辱感相关的障碍。
