Depression, Anxiety and Suicidal Behavior in Medical Training at a University in Mexico

Abstract

Introduction: Mental health damages represents one of the most relevant problems among general population and specifically among University students. Medical training involves particular exigencies that increases probabilities of having higher prevalence at experiencing mental health disorders among the medicine students.
Objective: To compare the anxiety, depression and suicidal behavior among medicine and other bachelor degrees students at a University in Mexico.
Method: It was designed a transversal study where it was applied a survey to a probabilistic fortuitous sample among first and last grade students of bachelor’s degree in medicine. This survey was also applied to a fortuitous sample of the same proportion to first and last grade of different bachelor’s degree. Data obtained were processed in a bivariate analysis to calculate prevalence as well as association measures (odds ratio [OR]) and statistical significance (X2).
Results: The medicine students showed higher prevalence of anxiety, depression and suicidal behavior episodes, tan the students of different bachelor’s degree programs. It was also found that the last grade medicine students showed higher prevalences that the ones in first grade. Sex was a variable that presents more influence among students of the other medicine bachelor’s degree programs.
Conclusions: Medical training implies higher probabilities of depression, anxiety and suicidal behavior, mostly among last year students, than students of another academic program.