Psychological well-being of medical students in a state university, Nigeria

Background: Medical school is a time of significant psychological distress for physicians-in-training. The objective of this study was to assess factors affecting the well-being of medical students undergoing clinical training at Olabisi Onabanjo University. Methods: One hundred and forty seven 500 level medical students of Olabisi Onabanjo University were administered questionnaires to assess the socio-demographic characteristics, levels of stress and well-being, psychological distress, anxiety and depression. Results: One hundred and thirty seven students completed their questionnaire out of a total of 147 students. Three quarters of the respondents were within ages 24 – 28 years with a mean of 26.3 +- 2.3 years. Seventy seven (56.2%) of the respondents were females. Close to half (48.9%) of the respondents had spent 8 years in school. About 30 % of the respondents were psychologically distressed while 21.9% and 14.6% had anxiety and depression respectively. Respondents who had spent more years in the school had a positive correlations with psychological distress (r = 0.249, p = 0.003) and anxiety (r =0.274, p = 0.001). Having no one to talk to when respondents had a problem was significantly associated with psychological distress (P = 0.00), anxiety (p = 0.00) and depression (p = 0.00). Academic stress at school was strongly associated with psychological distress (p = 0.00) and depression (p = 0.03). Conclusion: The study observed areas of possible stressful events (academics and non-academics) in medical education during the clinical periods. It is recommended that increased attention should be paid to building up the coping reserve of students.