Mental health status of medical students during postgraduate entrance examination

BMC Psychiatry

Research

Shaoyong Wu¹  Yimin Chen²  Zhiyi Zeng³  Baoxin Chen⁴  Fajiang Chen⁵  Hailing Yang⁶  Jack Wellington⁷  Mohammad Mofatteh⁸  Xiaoyu Miao⁹  Dongchao Gong^1,10  Caijuan Wen^1,10  Juanmei Chen^1,11 

[1] Clinical College of Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Guangzhou Medical University, 511436, Guangzhou, China;Department of Neurology, Foshan Sanshui District People’s Hospital, 528100, Foshan, China;Department of Research and Education, Foshan Sanshui District People’s Hospital, 528100, Foshan, China;Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Macao Polytechnic University, 999078, Macao, China;Graduate School, Guangzhou Medical University, 511436, Guangzhou, China;KingMed School of Laboratory Medicine, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China;School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, UK;School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, UK;School of Stomatology, Guangzhou Medical University, 511436, Guangzhou, China;Shunde Polytechnic, 528300, Foshan, China;The Second Clinical College, Guangzhou Medical University, 511436, Guangzhou, China;

关键词: Postgraduate entrance examination;    Medical students;    Mental health;    Anxiety;    Depression;    SCL – 90;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12888-022-04482-1

 received in 2022-07-06, accepted in 2022-12-19,  发布年份 2022

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe postgraduate entrance examination can be a milestone for many medical students to advance their careers. An increasing number of students are competing for limited postgraduate offers available, and failure to enter postgraduate studies can have adverse mental health consequences. In this paper, we aim to investigate the mental health status of medical students during the postgraduate application entrance examination and to provide a targeted basis for mental health education and psychological counselling.MethodsUsing the Symptom Checklist-90 scale (SCL-90) questionnaire, the mental health status of 613 students who passed two rounds of the Postgraduate Entrance Examination in 2019 to enroll in Guangzhou Medical University in China was evaluated and followed up for retesting 6 months later. We used SPSS 20.0 statistical software for comparative analysis, including One-Sample T-Test, Independent-Samples T-Test, Paired Samples T-Test and Chi-square Test.ResultsOur data showed that 12.10% of students had mental health problems during the postgraduate entrance examination, and it decreased significantly to 4.40% at the 6-month follow-up after the examination period finished (P < 0.01). Somatization was the most significant symptom of the students both during and after the postgraduate entrance examination stages. All SCL-90 factors were scored significantly lower both in and after the postgraduate entrance examination stages than the 2008 national college student norm score (P < 0.01). Excluding psychiatric factors, all other SCL-90 factors in the postgraduate entrance examination stage scored higher than the graduate stage (P < 0.05), and the total score of SCL-90 in female medical students was higher compared to male students (P < 0.05).ConclusionThe postgraduate entrance examination event has a significant negative influence on students’ mental health. The mental health of college and graduate students as an important part of their higher education experience should be systematically studied, and psychological counselling or help should be provided to them throughout their studies, specifically during the examination period. Educating applicants about mental health should be implemented during the postgraduate entrance examination curriculum.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2022

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