Abstract

Ali H.S. Alzahrani*, Ali K. Alzahrani, Mohamed Alharithy, Ziyad Alsugair, Omar Abdalgader, Mohammed Alobaylan, Ahmed Bukhari, Raed Alharthi and Ayman Abdelbaky

ABSTRACT

Background: Medical education can be a stressful process for the students due to various reasons such as the workload, the amount of knowledge and studying content that should be comprehended in a relatively short amount of time, the continuous exams, facing death and terminal illnesses on an ongoing basis. This makes medical student susceptible to psychiatric problems such as anxiety and depression, estimated prevalence of anxiety was found to be significantly high among medical student in several local and global studies.[1-12] Objectives: To identify the prevalence of anxiety and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) among male medical students in Taif University and to assess its association with year, marital status and physical activity. Methodology: A cross-sectional study with a random sample was done on 1st, 2nd, 4th & 5th year students of College of Medicine, Taif University. The instrument used to assess generalized anxiety disorder was a self-administered questionnaire, the GAD7 scale. Data analysis was done using SPSS ver.20. Results: A total of 157 out of 454 students participated in the survey. Anxiety prevalence was 31.8%, 15.9% and 2.5% for mild, moderate and severe anxiety respectively. Prevalence of GAD in was 18.5%. Anxiety was higher in 1st year compared to other years. Conclusion: This study suggests high prevalence of anxiety and GAD in medical student, the findings consist with other national and international studies.[1-12] However further research is needed for better understanding of the causes and the means of treatment.