Common mental disorders and associated factors among final-year healthcare students

• Published in: Revista da Associacao Medica Brasileira (1992) Vol. 60; no. 6; pp. 525 - 530
• Main Authors: Costa, Edméa Fontes de Oliva, Rocha, Margleice Marinho Vieira, Santos, Ana Teresa Rodrigues de Abreu, Melo, Enaldo Vieira de, Martins, Luiz Antonio Nogueira, Andrade, Tarcisio Matos
• Format: Magazine Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brazil 01-11-2014
• Subjects: Adult; Brazil - epidemiology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Humans; Male; Mental Disorders - epidemiology; Odds Ratio; Pleasure; Prevalence; Risk Factors; Sex Factors; Socioeconomic Factors; Stress, Psychological - psychology; Students, Dental - psychology; Students, Dental - statistics & numerical data; Students, Medical - psychology; Students, Medical - statistics & numerical data; Students, Nursing - psychology; Students, Nursing - statistics & numerical data; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult; Brazil
• ISSN: 0104-4230; 1806-9282; 0104-4230
• DOI: 10.1590/1806-9282.60.06.009

to assess the prevalence of common mental disorder (CMD) and to identify potential associated factors among medical, dental and nursing students.
a cross-sectional study conducted in a public university in Northeast Brazil with 172 undergraduate students of the last three semesters of the medicine, dentistry and nursing courses, in February 2010, using the Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) and a structured questionnaire developed by the authors. Logistic regression was performed for data analysis.
the prevalence of CMD was 33.7%. The courses presented no differences in CMD prevalence. The logistic regression analysis showed a strong association of the following variables with CMD: female (OR=4.34), lack of good expectations regarding the future (OR=5.83), course as not a source of pleasure (OR=7.52) and feeling emotionally tense (OR=11.23).
the high prevalence suggests that immediate preventive measures should be implemented, such as the setting up of psycho-pedagogic support services for students, and teacher development programs.