Mental distress in medical students of Addis Ababa University

Life in medical schools is said to be stressful leading to emotional distress. A study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of mental distress among medical students of Addis Ababa University using a Self Report Questionnaire (SRQ) in 2001. The SRQ was distributed to the entire student population through class representatives. A total of 273 (80%) students returned completed questionnaires. Of these, 83.2% were males and over 85% were above the age of 20 years. About 70% were Orthodox Christians and nearly half of the study population was from Addis Ababa. The one month prevalence of mental distress was found to be 32.6%. Over 6.0% reported that they had suicidal ideation in the last one month. Females reported symptoms of mental distress more often than males, but the difference was not statistically significant (X2 =2.97, df= 1, P=0.08). Age and level of training were shown to have significant association with mental distress (Age, X2=20.88, df=2, p<0.001 and year of study, X2 = 32.04, df=4, p<0.001). Those who were 20 years of age or below and those who were in the preclinical years of training were likely to report symptoms of mental distress more often than those who were older and above preclinical years of training, respectively. Students who use substances reported symptoms of mental distress more often than non users, but the difference was not statistically significant. The study showed that the risk of mental distress decreases as year of study advances in the medical school. However, this trend showed deflection in the year of internship. This study showed that mental distress is a common problem among medical students of Addis Ababa University. Further studies and support services for the students are recommended.