A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY OF THE PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON MEDICAL STUDENTS DURING & AFTER RECOVERY FROM COVID-19

Abstract

Introduction: Mental health of medical students has been an utmost topic of discussion. It is important to know whether the upcoming doctors are mentally equipped to handle the pressure that comes with the profession. There is substantial literature indicating negative impact on the mental health during COVID-19 pandemic. Studies regarding the same on frontline workers seems scarce. Therefore, it is essential to assess the prevalence of symptoms anxiety and depression among medical students during and after the recovery from COVID-19 infection. Materials and methods: It is a cross-sectional time bound study on 32 medical undergraduate students with active COVID-19 infection. They were screened using Self-reporting Questionnaire 20 (SRQ). Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) were administered on those who screened positive on SRQ-20 to assess the severity of anxiety and depressive symptoms. These were administered during and after COVID-19 infection on virtual platform. Results: In our study, 59.37% population was screened positive for mental health disorder during COVID-19 infection. 89.5% of the positively screened respondents had mild anxiety symptoms and 10.5% had moderate anxiety symptoms. 47.4% of screened respondents had mild depressive symptoms, 31.6% reported moderate depressive symptoms and 21.1% had severe depressive symptoms. Following recovery, there was a reduction in severity of anxiety and depressive symptoms which was statistically significant (p<0.001). Conclusion: Medical students have a propensity to develop anxiety and depressive symptoms while suffering from COVID-19 infection. Some may continue to have residual anxiety and depressive symptoms after recovery but the severity significantly reduces.