Background: In the challenging realm of health-science education, a rigorous curriculum, combined with the expectations to thrive in a fiercely competitive environment, affects students' academic performance, physical health, and psychological well-being. Objective(s): This paper embarks on an exploration of mental health within the University of Guyana; College of Medical Sciences, contextualizing it within a global landscape of stress, anxiety, and depression that afflicts aspiring healthcare professionals. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the researchers investigated the correlation between student concerns and mental health. They utilized Google Forms to administer Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale questionnaires to 265 participants. The modified scale included 9 items rated on a five-point Likert scale, achieving a post-administration Cronbach alpha score of 0.854. Psychological distress was defined as scores below 26 out of 45. Chi-squared tests were employed to examine associations between worries and indicators of psychological distress, such as sleep disturbance and university studies. Additionally, Chi-squared tests were used to assess connections between students' requests for support and their mental well-being scale category. Statistical analyses were conducted with a 95% confidence interval and a significance level of p < 0.05, including odds ratios to explore relationships between reported sleep disturbance, worries, and daily living or university activities. Results: The chi-square tests revealed a significant correlation between students seeking support from academic staff and concerns about finances (X² = 9.085, df=1, p< 0.003), as well as between sleep disturbance and listed worries among students (X² = 20.647, df=1, p< 0.001). Students who worried about finances were found to be 2 times more likely to require support from academic staff compared to their counterparts (OR: 2.0944, CI: 1.2909 to 3.3983, z statistic: 2.994, Significance level P = 0.0028). Those reporting interference with daily living activities and university studies due to worries were 3 times more likely to experience sleep disturbance (OR: 3.0421, CI: 1.8699 to 4.9492, Z statistic: 4.481, Significance level P < 0.0001). Normality was confirmed through a Shapiro-Wilk test using the modified questionnaire (Test statistic W= 0.993, df: 289, p-value: 0.175). An independent sample t-test comparing mean scores on a Warwick-Edinburgh mental health well-being test showed a significant difference between those who worry about university studies and those who do not t (5.676), df= 287, p<0.001) with a large effect size (d=0.839). Conclusions: The research highlights the pressing necessity for specific interventions aimed at tackling psychological distress and easing concerns among students in health science.
Mental health and student worries in the college of medical sciences at the university of Guyana
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Paper No:
5078