Psychiatric morbidity among resident doctors in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria

Mental health concerns among trainee doctors are a pressing issue. Despite its importance, there is limited research on this topic, particularly in Nigeria. This study investigates the prevalence and correlates of psychiatric morbidity among resident doctors at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital.

This two-phase cross-sectional descriptive study involved 176 trainee doctors across 16 medical specialities and subspecialities. The first phase involved screening for probable psychiatry 'cases' using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), and the second phase involved making specific psychiatric diagnoses using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI plus). Statistical weighting was performed on the second phase data to estimate the weighted prevalence of psychiatric morbidity.

The mean age of respondents was 35.10 (s.d.: 4.07). The weighted prevalence of psychiatric morbidity among respondents was 35.2%, with generalised anxiety disorder (13.6%) being the most prevalent, while depression and opioid abuse accounted for 5.1% each. The presence of a stressful event within the previous 6 months (χ² = 9.670; p = 0.002), poor sleep (χ² = 6.822; p = 0.009), work-related stress (χ² = 4.052; p = 0.044) and academic-related stress (χ² = 11.735; p = 0.001) were significantly associated with psychiatric morbidity.

There is a high prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in trainee doctors, with anxiety disorder being the most common mental health problem reported. Effective preventive strategies targeted at identified risk factors are encouraged to reduce its burden.

The poor mental health of resident doctors in this study highlights the urgent need to implement mental health-friendly policies at training institutions.