Anxiety disorders among medical students

Background: Concerns about the psychological health of students are determined by their lifestyle, specific working conditions, and the role that this social group plays in society. Compensatory mechanisms of students do not always cope with new living conditions and the requirements of higher education, which leads to stress, psychological and social conflicts, as well as to the use of psychoactive substances. Aim. The paper aims to identify the prevalence of anxiety disorders among medical students to develop recommendations for primary and secondary psychological prevention. Materials and methods: the study was conducted throughout the year. The first- and fourth-year students (52.6 % and 47. 4 % respectively) of the medical faculty of the South Ural State Medical University participated in the study (n = 612). The study involved both females (66.8 %) and males (33.2 %). To identify various anxiety disorders, the Yale-Brown Scale, ICD-10 criteria (F41.0 and F41.1), and anonymous survey were used. To assess the reliability of the values obtained, the Student’s t-test was used. Relative values and their representative errors were calculated. Results: anxiety disorders were detected in 65.8 % of first-year students and more than half of fourth-year students. Moreover, anxiety disorders are 1.5 times more common in females than in males. Depressive conditions were found in every fifth student, regardless of the year of study. More than half of first-year students and every third fourth-year student suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder of varying severity. Severe and extremely severe obsessive-compulsive disorder in first-year students occurs 2 times more often than in fourth-year students. Conclusion: anxiety disorders are widespread among medical students, which requires their primary and secondary prevention. First-year students are particularly affected by adaptation to new living conditions and the requirements of higher education.