E-ISSN 1658-8223 | ISSN 1658-645X
 

Original Article
Online Published: 17 Mar 2018
 


Prevalence of mental distress among undergraduate medical students at Majmaah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Talal Alghamdi, Tahir Ansari, Fahad Alfahaid, Mansour Alzaharani, Mohammed Almansour, Waqas Sami, Abdulkreem Alnasser, Ibrahim Almutiri, Turki Alanazi, Shoaib Albader.


Abstract
Background: Medical Education and Medical Profession are among the most challenging and stressful ones. It also poses many new, challenging and potentially threatening situational demands on the incoming students. Anxiety and depression represents an escalating public health problem among medical students.

Objectives: The objectives of the study were; to find the prevalence of mental distress among undergraduate medical students studying at College of Medicine, Majmaah University; to explore associations between socio-demographic characteristics and mental distress and to identify mental health and support service needs at Majmaah University for distressed students.

Methods: It was a cross-sectional study. The data was collected from undergraduate medical students’ of either gender studying at College of Medicine, Majmaah University using complete enumeration method. General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) was used to collect the data from 162 students.

Result: The prevalence of mental distress among students was 35.8%. Psychosocial disorder (27.2%) was the most prevalent among students, followed by anxiety (24.7%), somatic (14.2%) and depression (10.5%). Male students had higher mental distress as compared to female students (67.6% vs 43.5%, p<0.001). Moreover, third year students had higher anxiety level (42.1%) as compared to other year students p<0.001.

Conclusion: Medical students encountered high rates of anxiety and depression. Male students were more mentally distressed as compared to female students. Anxiety was more prevalent in 3 rd year students as compared to other groups. Educating the students through stress management programs and counselling them through mental health units in the College may help in overall reduction of mental distress.

Key words: Mental distress, Stress, Medical students, Anxiety, Depression


 
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How to Cite this Article
Pubmed Style

Alghamdi T, Ansari T, Alfahaid F, Alzaharani M, Almansour M, Sami W, Alnasser A, Almutiri I, Alanazi T, Albader S. Prevalence of mental distress among undergraduate medical students at Majmaah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Majmaah J Heal Sci. 2017; 5(2): 66-75. doi:10.5455/mjhs.2017.02.008


Web Style

Alghamdi T, Ansari T, Alfahaid F, Alzaharani M, Almansour M, Sami W, Alnasser A, Almutiri I, Alanazi T, Albader S. Prevalence of mental distress among undergraduate medical students at Majmaah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. https://www.mjhs-mu.org/?mno=294059 [Access: June 24, 2026]. doi:10.5455/mjhs.2017.02.008


AMA (American Medical Association) Style

Alghamdi T, Ansari T, Alfahaid F, Alzaharani M, Almansour M, Sami W, Alnasser A, Almutiri I, Alanazi T, Albader S. Prevalence of mental distress among undergraduate medical students at Majmaah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Majmaah J Heal Sci. 2017; 5(2): 66-75. doi:10.5455/mjhs.2017.02.008



Vancouver/ICMJE Style

Alghamdi T, Ansari T, Alfahaid F, Alzaharani M, Almansour M, Sami W, Alnasser A, Almutiri I, Alanazi T, Albader S. Prevalence of mental distress among undergraduate medical students at Majmaah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Majmaah J Heal Sci. (2017), [cited June 24, 2026]; 5(2): 66-75. doi:10.5455/mjhs.2017.02.008



Harvard Style

Alghamdi, T., Ansari, . T., Alfahaid, . F., Alzaharani, . M., Almansour, . M., Sami, . W., Alnasser, . A., Almutiri, . I., Alanazi, . T. & Albader, . S. (2017) Prevalence of mental distress among undergraduate medical students at Majmaah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Majmaah J Heal Sci, 5 (2), 66-75. doi:10.5455/mjhs.2017.02.008



Turabian Style

Alghamdi, Talal, Tahir Ansari, Fahad Alfahaid, Mansour Alzaharani, Mohammed Almansour, Waqas Sami, Abdulkreem Alnasser, Ibrahim Almutiri, Turki Alanazi, and Shoaib Albader. 2017. Prevalence of mental distress among undergraduate medical students at Majmaah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Majmaah Journal of Health Sciences, 5 (2), 66-75. doi:10.5455/mjhs.2017.02.008



Chicago Style

Alghamdi, Talal, Tahir Ansari, Fahad Alfahaid, Mansour Alzaharani, Mohammed Almansour, Waqas Sami, Abdulkreem Alnasser, Ibrahim Almutiri, Turki Alanazi, and Shoaib Albader. "Prevalence of mental distress among undergraduate medical students at Majmaah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia." Majmaah Journal of Health Sciences 5 (2017), 66-75. doi:10.5455/mjhs.2017.02.008



MLA (The Modern Language Association) Style

Alghamdi, Talal, Tahir Ansari, Fahad Alfahaid, Mansour Alzaharani, Mohammed Almansour, Waqas Sami, Abdulkreem Alnasser, Ibrahim Almutiri, Turki Alanazi, and Shoaib Albader. "Prevalence of mental distress among undergraduate medical students at Majmaah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia." Majmaah Journal of Health Sciences 5.2 (2017), 66-75. Print. doi:10.5455/mjhs.2017.02.008



APA (American Psychological Association) Style

Alghamdi, T., Ansari, . T., Alfahaid, . F., Alzaharani, . M., Almansour, . M., Sami, . W., Alnasser, . A., Almutiri, . I., Alanazi, . T. & Albader, . S. (2017) Prevalence of mental distress among undergraduate medical students at Majmaah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Majmaah Journal of Health Sciences, 5 (2), 66-75. doi:10.5455/mjhs.2017.02.008





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