Prevalência de sintomas depressivos e ansiosos em estudantes de medicina durante a pandemia por coronavírus (Covid-19)

Abstract

The coronavirus outbreak started in China in December of 2019 and quickly spread around the world causing many countries to take drastic measures in an attempt to contain the spread. The World Health Organization has classified the coronavirus as a pandemic and in response colleges and universities have suspended their activities, impacting the lives of many students. The high prevalence of anxiety and depressive disorders among medical students, when compared to the general population, has been revealed by several studies in recent years. Evidence points out that during the pandemic, stress levels can rise, damaging the lives of several graduates. The studies, however, vary widely depending on the scenario where they were carried out. We applied questionnaires, to students from all phases of a medical school to understand the sociodemographic profile of the students, their situation in the face of the pandemic. For the analysis of depressive symptoms, the “Beck Depression Inventory” (BDI) was used and for the anxious symptomatology the “Beck Anxiety Inventory” (BAI), in addition we used the UCLA loneliness scale (UCLA-3) to identify loneliness. The data were analyzed using the SPSS software, using p<0.05 as significance. Results: 146 students answered the questionnaire completely, 24.6% of the students were identified as having a moderate or severe degree of anxiety symptoms, and 26.7% had a moderate or severe degree of depressive symptoms. In the assessment of the loneliness scale (UCLA-3) 42.5% of the students who answered the questionnaire were considered to be loners. Knowing this data will help in the development of more early and adequate therapeutic and preventive strategies to improve the mental health situation of this population over the course of a pandemic.