PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS AMONG MBBS STUDENTS IN ASSAM: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY USING KESSLER-10 SCALE
Main Article Content
Keywords
MBBS students, Kessler 10 scale, mental health, psychological distress, MBBS curriculum
Abstract
Psychological distress refers to a general state of emotional discomfort marked by symptoms of depression such as loss of interest, sadness, or hopelessness, and anxiety, such as restlessness or tension. Evidence suggests that psychological distress among medical students is consistently higher than that observed in general population and among peers of similar age. Therefore, this study aims to estimate the prevalence of psychological distress among MBBS students of a medical college in Assam.
Materials and methods:
A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate MBBS students of Phase I to Phase III Part II students who were present on the day of data collection. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaires, which included the Kessler 10 Psychological Distress (K10) instrument and scores ≥ 20 indicated psychological distress (mild, moderate, severe). Chi-square tests were used to test associations, considering p < 0.05 as statistically significant.
Results:
Response rate was 96.2% with 423 responses. 65.2% of the students had psychological distress: 25.1% had mild psychological distress, 20.8% had moderate psychological distress and 19.4% had severe psychological distress. Only 34.8% of the students were well and had no psychological distress. Demographic and academic factors were not found to be statistically significant.
Conclusion:
The findings of this study underscore a high prevalence of psychological distress in the study population with an alarmingly high prevalence of severe psychological distress. This level of psychological burden poses a serious risk to the students’ well-being, academic performance, and future professional competence. Mandatory psychological screening and support, accessible and destigmatised counselling and mental health services, targeted academic support via workshops and study skill training and promoting wellness and leisure by introducing mandatory modules focussed on physical exercises and yoga/ mindfulness is need of the hour.
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Dr Dakshadhwari Upadhyay
Assistant Professor, Community Medicine, Assam Medical College and Hospital [email protected]
Dr Farhana Shaheen Hussain
Assistant Professor, Community Medicine, Assam Medical College and Hospital, [email protected]
Dr Manjit Boruah
Associate Professor, Community Medicine, Tinsukia Medical College and Hospital, [email protected]
