Impact of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on the mental health status of Indian undergraduate health professional students

Abstract

Introduction and Aim: The psychological effects of the COVID-19 outbreak and related lockdown measures among the Indian population are less known. Undergraduate students are prone to mental health problems making them more vulnerable to the impact of the pandemic and its lockdown. This study sought to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown on the mental health status of undergraduate health professional students of a tertiary care setup. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried on undergraduate health professional students of a private Deemed-to-be University. 246 participants took part in this study. A questionnaire was provided as a Google form containing 26 questions. It captured the main dimensions of mental health-related issues in undergraduate students. Paired ‘t’ test was employed to compare the mental health status of the participants before and during the lockdown. Results: A significant majority of our participants experienced stress during the lockdown. There was no significant effect of gender, the number of household members, or prior mental health challenges on the mental status of the students. COVID-19 updates on central government introduced mobile application significantly decreased stress but reports from television/radio and social media significantly contributed to stress. Students engaged in online academic activities of more than four hours per day were significantly stressed. Conclusion: Undergraduate health professional students in our study were significantly more stressed during the lockdown as compared to the pre-lockdown period. Academic online activity also significantly contributed to stress with more than four hours of online engagement precipitating severe stress.