[Screening of emotional and somatic complaints in undergraduate medical students: a longitudinal study]

1) Do easy-to-administer screening tests for anxiety, depression, and somatic complaints detect more abnormal results in medical students than in the "normal" population? 2) Can the complaints already be recognized at the beginning of university studies? 3) Do they occur more seldom in medical students who are related to doctors?

Study with 146 of 150 enrolled medical students undergoing 2 self-rating scales during the first 3 terms: "Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale" (HADS-D) and "Gießener Beschwerdebogen GBB" (GBB-24).

1) More abnormal values were measured than in the normal population. 2) The grades of anxiety, depression, and total somatic complaints, but not exhaustion, could be recognized at the start of the first term. 3) Students from medical families showed less anxieties and depressions. Nevertheless, the prevalence is remarkably high.

HADS-D and GBB-24 are efficient aids to early detection of conspicuous emotional and somatic complaints of medical students who did not reduce their symptoms when not being treated.