Background: Studies done in other countries have shown that the COVID-19 pandemic has had an extra negative effect on the psychological wellbeing of medical students. There are no published studies regarding the psychological impact of COVID- 19 on Sri Lankan medical
students.
Objective: To determine the psychological impact of COVID 19 among a cohort of Sri Lankan medical students and to determine the demographic correlates associated with the psychological status.
Methodology: Google forms of the demographic questionnaire and validated Sinhala and Tamil versions of DASS-21 were posted online for eligible consenting participants. Chi-square test was used to look in to the significance between groups.
Results: Of the 418 students, 281(67.2%) were females and 137(32.8%) were males. Majority, i.e. 280(67.0%) were in the age group of 20-25 years. In the study group, 9.6%, 25.1% and 1.6% of participants scored above the cutoffs of depression, anxiety and stress subscales respectively.
29(10.3%) of the total number of female students were found to have depression when compared to the 11(8.0%) of the males with depression. 73 (25.9%) of female students had anxiety as compared to the 32(23.4%) of the males with anxiety. Female gender had a significant association with scoring above cutoffs of depression (p<0.05) and anxiety (p<0.05) subscales. A significant association was found between the presence of economic difficulties and depression (p<0.05). Previous contact with psychiatric services had significant associations with depression (p<.01), anxiety (p<.001) and stress (p<.001), and presence of medical/ surgical impairments had significant associations with depression (p<.01) and stress (p<.001). Perceived lack of support from university administration and difficulty accessing internet facilities had significant associations with stress (p<0.05)
Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic appears to have had a significant impact on the psychological status of this cohort of Sri Lankan medical students.
Keywords: COVID-19, Depression, Anxiety, Stress, Sri Lankan medical students
