Mental health problems among medical students in Brazil: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective: To provide a comprehensive picture of mental health problems (MHPs) in Brazilian medical students by documenting their prevalence and association with co-factors. Methods: We systematically searched the MEDLINE/PubMed, SciELO, LILACS, and PsycINFO databases for cross-sectional studies on the prevalence of MHPs among medical students in Brazil published before September 29, 2016. We pooled prevalences using a random-effects meta-analysis, and summarized factors associated with MHP. Results: We included 59 studies in the analysis. For meta-analyses, we identified the summary prevalence of different MHPs, including depression (25 studies, prevalence 30.6%), common mental disorders (13 studies, prevalence 31.5%), burnout (three studies, prevalence 13.1%), problematic alcohol use (three studies, prevalence 32.9%), stress (six studies, prevalence 49.9%), low sleep quality (four studies, prevalence 51.5%), excessive daytime sleepiness (four studies, prevalence 46.1%), and anxiety (six studies, prevalence 32.9%). Signs of lack of motivation, emotional support, and academic overload correlated with MHPs. Conclusion: Several MHPs are highly prevalent among future physicians in Brazil. Evidence-based interventions and psychosocial support are needed to promote mental health among Brazilian medical students.

Prevalence of depressive symptoms among medical students: overview of systematic reviews

“…As for Scielo and LILACS, 94 records were found, but only one was deemed potentially eligible and this article was also found in the English database. Eventually, 10 systematic reviews and meta‐analyses were included in this overview …”

“…were completely covered in Rotenstein et al., whereas the majority (>60%) of the studies in Coentre and Figueira, Hope and Henderson, and Puthran et al., were covered in Rotenstein et al . Pacheco et al . focused on students in Brazil, and less than half of their included studies were covered in Rotenstein et al .…”

“…Searching non‐English databases is likely to be a better practice, as numerous studies included in Gong et al., Lei et al . and Pacheco et al . were not covered by other reviews, which merely used English databases in their search.…”

“…In recent years, systematic reviews and meta‐analyses have been published to summarise the prevalence of depressive symptoms among medical students. Some studies have included only articles published in English, whereas others included non‐English databases . At the same time, some studies have focused on only one country, whereas others included multiple countries .…”

Relations Among Poor Sleep, Anxiety and Depression Among the Students of Health Sciences

“…The students (18)(19) years old) whose sleep was disturbed, had significantly higher depression mean score (3.81), as compared to the ones who had normal sleep (2.63), p<0.05 (see 20 years old students which had disturbed sleep, also had higher prevalence of depression (14.0) and higher depression mean score (4.56), as compared to normal sleep, 3.5, p<0.05 and 2.70, p<0.001, respectively (Table 2). Students (20 years old) who had disturbed sleep, had higher prevalence of anxiety (60.7) and higher score of anxiety (9.03), as compared to the students which had normal sleep, 26.3, p<0.05 and 5.95, p<0.001, respectively.…”