Mental Health Assessment of Medical Students in Tanta University: A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Mental health disorders are common in university students, where the most common of them include substance abuse, anxiety, and mood disorders. College students are in a transitory age that’s accompanied by various stressors and during which diverse mental health problems usually appear for the 1st time. Objective: To assess presence of mental health disorders among under graduate medical students. Methods: 2900 students were invited to complete a survey that was built on Microsoft form app provided by information technology unit and directed to medical students in mentioned grads individually. An e-mail has been sent to each student's academic official e-mail which was provided to students in the first three academic years.  Email included GHQ-28 form associated with phrases fostering involvement in the study and assuring anonymity. Results: The response rate for the GHQ-28 survey was 25.9% of emailed students completing the questionnaire. The mean GHQ-28 score of 13.78 is considerably higher than general population norms. Conclusion: The majority of students (88.16%) scored above the threshold for psychological morbidity and were considered as a possible case indicating elevated psychological distress in this student sample.