Volume : VIII, Issue : X, October - 2018

Prevalence of Psychiatric Disorders in Undergraduate Medical Students of a College in New Delhi

Sushovan Roy, Farzana Islam

Abstract :

Background: Medical students are the future physicians on whom rests the health care of the coming generations. Presence of unrecognized or untreated psychiatric disorders in them could compromise their future professional competence. Information regarding current prevalence of psychiatric disorders in medical students in India are scant. The study was done to add to the pool of knowledge about the same.

Aims and Objectives: To find out the prevalence of major psychiatric disorders among medical students in a college in New Delhi and to counsel the diagnosed individuals to seek therapeutic help.

Material and Methods: Randomly selected and voluntarily enrolled medical students of both genders of a medical college in New Delhi were the subjects. Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview, version 6.0 (MINI 6.0) was the diagnostic tool used.

Results: Lifetime Major Depression was the most common diagnosis with 23.3% of the subjects registering the diagnosis. Lifetime Bipolar Affective Disorder diagnoses were far less at 7.8%. Anxiety spectrum disorders were found to be the next most common ailment, withLifetime Panic Disorder and Generalized Anxiety both affecting 5.8% each. Agoraphobia was seen in 4.8%, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in 4.8% and Social Phobia in 2.9%.

Conclusions: Psychiatric disorders in medical students remains a reality with little focus of the concerned authorities on it. It has been seen that Psychiatric disorders crop up more as the student gains seniority reflecting the effect of cumulative individual and social stress. Most of the disorders start in a mild manner and are very amenable to treatment if started at the earnest. A routine psychiatric screening of the students on admission would go a long way to prevent catastrophes in the future.

Keywords :

Article: Download PDF   DOI : 10.36106/ijar  

Cite This Article:

Sushovan Roy, Farzana Islam, Prevalence of Psychiatric Disorders in Undergraduate Medical Students of a College in New Delhi, INDIAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH : Volume-8 | Issue-10 | October-2018

Number of Downloads : 498

References :