Mental Health among Medical Students: Roles of Dorm Life and Exposure to Clinical Environment

Background: Medical students are exposed to high risk mental health disorders. Owing to the higher probability of exposure to the mentioned risk factors among dorm-resident students and senior students, the present study was conducted to explore mental health disorder and its relationship with higher academic year and dorm residence, amongthe medical students of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 270 medical students in 2019. A multi-stage random sampling was applied. A standardized self-administered questionnaire, which comprised of demographic variables and General Health Questionnaire-28, was used.Results: The mean age of the participants was 22.52±2.26 years. About 166 individuals (61.5%, CI 95%: 55.69, 67.30) showed symptoms of mental health disorders, and anxiety was the most common mental disorder with a prevalence of 16.7% in medical students. There were significant relationships between mental health and higher age (P=0.001), clinical phase students (P lt;0.001), single students (P=0.044), dorm residence (P lt;0.001), and those in poor economic condition (P=0.047).Conclusion: The chance of developing mental health disorders in dormitory students and in clinical phase students was 2.48 (CI 95%: 1.36, 4.53) and 2.97 (CI 95%: 2.12, 4.15) times higher than in non-dormitory and basic phase students, respectively. Due to the higher prevalence of mental health disorders among medical students compared to the general population, interventions should be done at the university level to promote the students’ mental health, especially clinical and dormitory students. In addition, policymakers should design and implement a comprehensive student mental health care program nationally.