Abstract
Background: Outbreaks can impose considerable psychological stress that may lead to unpredictable negative outcomes on learning, performance and overall psychological well-being. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate Anxiety and Psychological Stress during the COVID-19 Pandemic among faculty of medicine students, Suez Canal University, Egypt.
Methods: A cross-sectional analytic descriptive design was used. About 381 medical students from Suez Canal university agreed to complete an anonymous online survey-based study collected demographic data as well as the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) and the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12)) to assess anxiety and psychological stress, respectively. The survey was conducted during the summer of 2020.
Results: From those surveyed, 82.4% and 64% of respondents were screened positive for anxiety and psychological stress, respectively. Students in clinical years have a higher level of anxiety (P=0.017) and stress (P=0.004) compared to the students in pre-clinical study years.
Conclusions: Covid-19 has harmful psychological consequences on university medical students.
Keywords: Anxiety; Covid-19; Stress; Medical students.