Srpski arhiv za celokupno lekarstvo 2013 Volume 141, Issue 11-12, Pages: 780-784
https://doi.org/10.2298/SARH1312780B
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Stress and mental health among medical students
Backović Dušan V. (Medicinski fakultet, Institut za higijenu i medicinsku ekologiju, Beograd + Medicinski fakultet, Beograd)
Maksimović Miloš 
(Medicinski fakultet, Institut za higijenu i medicinsku ekologiju, Beograd + Medicinski fakultet, Beograd)
Davidović Dragana (Medicinski fakultet, Institut za higijenu i medicinsku ekologiju, Beograd + Medicinski fakultet, Beograd)
Ilić-Živojinović Jelena (Medicinski fakultet, Institut za higijenu i medicinsku ekologiju, Beograd + Medicinski fakultet, Beograd)
Stevanović Dejan (Medicinski fakultet, Beograd + Kliničkobolnički centar „Zemun“, Beograd)
Introduction. Medical studies bring many stressful activities to students.
Prolonged stress can make adverse effects to mental health and lead to
further professional burnout. Objective. The aim of this study was to assess
the association of stress impact and adverse effects of medical studies with
psychological distress among medical students. Methods. The cross sectional
study was conducted on 367 fourthyear medical students of the Faculty of
Medicine in Belgrade, by means of the anonymous questionnaire, containing:
sociodemographic data, selfreported health status and stressful influences
of studying activities. Mental health status was estimated by General Health
Questionnaire (GHQ12). Results. More than 50% of students perceive frequent
feeling of psychic tension, and one third has problems with insomnia. Nearly
onehalf of students assessed their general stress level as moderate or high.
Exams were estimated as high stressor in 63.1% of all students. Stressful
effects of communication with teaching staff were reported by one quarter of
the examinees. The scores of GHQ12 were above the threshold in 55.6 % of all
students. Mental health problems among students were most significantly
associated with stressful experience during exams and contacts with teaching
staff. Conclusion. Academic stress makes great influence on mental health of
medical students. Reduction of stress effects should be directed to
optimization of the examination process and improvement of communication
skills.
Keywords: stress, mental health, medical students
Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. OI 175078