Objective: To investigate the prevalence of symptoms of anxiety and depression in
medical students at the Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA) from January 2005 to
December 2010, treated at the Psychosocial Assistance Service (SAPS) and assess
their work. Method: Data collection was performed in the SAPS through medical
records review that occurred from January 2010 to May 2010. Results: This study
included a survey of 663 cases of which 190 (28.7%) were medical students. Of
these 190, 42.5% had not a diagnosis of anxiety or depression and 5.7% were
patients with incomplete data records, then only 98 formed the sample. The
prevalence rate of depression was higher in women (59.2%), aged 22-25 years
(55.1%), single (96.9%), Catholics (68.4%) and from Pará (51%). The greatest risk of
developing these pathologies is among the first year students (25.5%), the fourth
(25.5%) and sixth year (19.4%). The most frequent depressive symptoms were crying
crisis, sadness, and sleep disorders. As for anxiety was distress and easy crying
crisis. It was found that the percentage of abandonment (35.8%) was significant
since this rate was very similar to the improved discharge rate (36.6%).
Conclusions: The medical course seems to be associated with the development of
anxiety and depression in medical students. Higher rates of anxiety symptoms were
found at the beginning of the course, suggesting difficulties in adapting to new
teaching methods, as in the fourth year, before the internship, and in the sixth year
when happen the residence tests. The existence of programs to identify and treat
these students early is essential for the improvement of future physicians. Finally, we
observed the importance of having a service that can identify early those students at
risk and how to treat patients diagnosed with anxiety or depression and other
disorders.
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