Symptoms of anxiety and depression in Estonian medical students with sleep problems

Abstract

High emotional stress in medical students has been observed in many studies. Our aim in this article was to assess the prevalence of symptoms of anxiety and depression among Estonian medical students and to find relationships between sleep complaints and emotional symptoms. The study group consisted of 413 medical students, ages 19-33 years, at the University of Tartu. Each was asked to complete two questionnaires: the Emotional State Questionnaire (EST-Q), containing 28 questions, and the Questionnaire on Sleep and Daytime Habits, with 25 questions. The anxiety and depression subscales from the EST-Q were applied. From the study group, 21.9% students had symptoms of anxiety, and 30.6% had symptoms of depression. The frequency of anxiety and depressive symptoms was higher in females. In regression and multiple regression analysis, we determined which sleep problems were related to emotional symptoms. The associations were different for men and women. In women, anxiety remained significantly related to waking up because of nightmares and feeling tired in the morning; depressive symptoms were related to difficulties in getting to sleep at night, waking up because of nightmares and nocturnal eating habits, daytime sleepiness, and sleepiness during school lessons. In men, significant relations were clear only for depression: difficulties in falling asleep at night before an exam and subjective sleep quality. The study demonstrated that a high percentage of medical students had emotional symptoms. We found that some sleep problems indicated underlying symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Mister Sandman, bring me good marks! On the relationship between sleep quality and academic achievement

“…Depression, anxiety and stress are regularly reported to be associated with both sleep quality (see, e.g., Breslau et al, 1996;Eller et al, 2006) and academic achievements (see, e.g., Andrews & Wilding, 2004;Eisenberg et al, 2009). Hence the importance of including them as control variables in our analysis.…”

Prevalência de Sintomas de Ansiedade e Depressão em Estudantes de Medicina

“…Uma pesquisa realizada na Universidade Federal de São Paulo mostrou que 38,2% dos alunos do curso de Medicina apresentavam sintomas depressivos 5 . Um estudo que envolveu estudantes de Medicina conduzido na Estônia evidenciou alta porcentagem de estudantes com sintomas emocionais, dos quais 21,9% apresentavam sintomas de ansiedade e 30,6% tinham sintomas de depressão 6 . Os fatores que podem influenciar a prevalência de ansiedade e depressão nos estudantes de Medicina são a elevada carga horária, grande volume de matérias, maior contato com pacientes portadores de diversas doenças e prognósticos, insegurança em relação ao ingresso no mercado de trabalho, cobrança da sociedade e da instituição de ensino, além da autocobrança típica deste curso 7 .…”

Skirtingų Studijų Krypčių Studentų Miego Kokybės Sąsajos Su Emociniais Ir Elgesio Sunkumais

“…studentų (Cates et al, 2015;Lopes et al, 2013;Lund et al, 2010). Kai kurie autoriai akcentuoja, kad vis dar nepakanka epidemiologinės informacijos apie miego ir kitų gretutinių sutrikimų sąsajas bendroje populiacijoje bei atskirose aukštos rizikos grupėse, prie kurių priskirtinos ir kolegijų bei aukštų-jų mokyklų studentų grupės (Veldi et al, 2005;Eller et al, 2006).…”

“…Tyrimai atskleidė gana aukštą emocinių sutrikimų paplitimą ne tik tarp studentų; miego sutrikimų turintiems jauniems suaugusiems žmonėms gana dažnai nustatomi ir psichikos sutrikimai (ypač nerimas ir depresija) (Augner, 2011;Loayza et al, 2001). Pastebimas studentų miego kokybės ir emocinės bei fizinės sveikatos tarpusavio ryšys: somatinės ir psichikos ligos blogina miego kokybę ir atvirkščiai -ilgalaikis miego trūkumas gali sukelti emocinius ir fizinius negalavimus (Field et al, 2012;Kaneita et al, 2009;Eller et al, 2006). Nustatyta, kad depresija yra vienintelis sutrikimas, glaudžiai susijęs su nemiga, sunkiu užmigimu ar naktiniais prabudimais (Nyer et al, 2013;MooEstrella et al, 2005;Gräßel et al, 2013;Field et al, 2012).…”

“…Dažnai šiuo požiūriu tyrinėti medicinos studentai, nes medicinos studijos tradiciškai vertinamos kaip vienos sunkiausių. Įvairiose šalyse atlikti tyrimai atskleidė, kad medicinos studentams būdingas gana aukštas psichologinio distreso, nerimo, depresijos ir miego sutrikimų lygis (Loayza et al, 2001;Abdussalam et al, 2013;Eller et al, 2006;Augner, 2011). S. Baldassin ir kolegos (2008) teigia, kad medicinos studentams kyla didžiausia susirgimo riziką per pirmus trejus studijų metus, tai neigiamai veikia jų profesinius, akademinius ir socialinius įgūdžius.…”