Anxiety symptoms and perceived performance in medical students

Abstract

Medical students represent a highly educated population under significant pressures. During the transition to clinical settings in the third year, they may experience a loss of external control and may counter this with an increase in obsessionality and/or other anxiety symptoms. Our study examines the phenomenology of obsessive-compulsive and other anxiety symptoms in medical students at two U.S. medical schools and relates these symptoms to self-perception of performance. Subjects anonymously completed a battery of questionnaires regarding obsessive-compulsive symptoms, attentional problems, anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and perceived performance in medical school. A factor analysis of obsessional symptoms showed four primary factors: checking/doubts, contamination, long time/detail, and unpleasant thoughts/worries. These four factors were similar to those found among college students and other nonclinical populations. Anxiety, attentional, and depressive symptoms were highest in the third-year medical students. In contrast, obsessional symptoms were highest in the first-year students and lower for subsequent years. Perceived performance was not significantly correlated with obsessionality, although lower perceived performance was associated with higher levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Students with lower perceived performance in medical school were significantly more likely to be female, depressed, or older. The progressive decrease in number of obsessional symptoms across years and the lack of correlation with perceived performance suggest that these symptoms may be developmentally appropriate, and perhaps adaptive. In contrast, other anxiety symptoms appear to be maladaptive responses to external stressors.

Associations of Pass-Fail Outcomes with Psychological Health of First-Year Medical Students in a Malaysian Medical School

“…Our study found a far greater percentage of medical students experienced significant anxiety disorders (67.5%) during the final examination than those figures reported either before or during medical training, but relatively similar to figures reported by a few previous studies which ranged from 60% to 70%. 19,[37][38][39] The huge increase in anxiety disorders among medical students found in this study is, perhaps, due to the impact of the final examination on psychological well-being as reported by a previous study. 16 Even so, the percentage of medical students who experienced significant symptoms of stress (24.2%) and depression (29.9%) were similar to previous studies, ranging from 21% to 56% for stress, and 5% to 37.5% for depression.…”

“…In contrast, during medical training approximately 11.5% of medical students suffered from anxiety disorder. 19,37 These facts suggested that both before and after medical training, medical students experience a substantial degree of anxiety. Our study found a far greater percentage of medical students experienced significant anxiety disorders (67.5%) during the final examination than those figures reported either before or during medical training, but relatively similar to figures reported by a few previous studies which ranged from 60% to 70%.…”

Stress Among Prospective Teachers: a Review of the Literature

“…Psychological distress may be experienced as physical symptoms (Donaghy, 2004), or manifest as symptoms associated with anxiety, including impaired functioning, diminished performance and lowered productivity (Chandavarkar, Azzam, & Mathews, 2007;Wong et al, 2006), suicidal ideation and increased mortality (Cuijpers, Smit, & van Straten, 2007) and depression (Garlow, Rosenberg, Moore, Haas, Koestner, Hendin, & Nemeroff, 2008). It is also a risk factor for absence and long-term illness (Flynn, 2000;Hickie, 2004;Kumar & Basu, 2000;Newbury-Birch et al, 2002;Pickard et al, 2000;Prince, 2007).…”

Ansiedad, depresión, estrés y organización de la personalidad en estudiantes novatos de medicina y enfermería

“…De acuerdo a la literatura disponible, la prevalencia de estos cuadros es mayor en carreras del área de salud si se le compara con otros dominios disciplinares [5][6][7][8][9] , alcanzando incluso mayores niveles que la población general 10 . Esta condición se vincularía a los niveles de exigencia académica propios de las carreras de salud, factores socioeconómicos y socioemocionales 10,11 , además de variables como el tipo de carrera, el sexo 4 , y ser alumno/a de primer año en la carrera 11 . Un aspecto a considerar en cuanto a la emergencia de estos cuadros, es la relación de ellos con la personalidad de los estudiantes de la salud [12][13][14][15][16] .…”