Mental state of medical students three years into the war
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14739/2310-1210.2025.3.327123Keywords:
anxiety, depression, quality of life, students, sleep disorders, insomnia, armed conflicts, Ukrainian peopleAbstract
The aim of the study was to assess the mental health status of higher medical education students three years into the war in Ukraine.
Materials and methods. 104 students were interviewed at Dnipro State Medical University from February 24 to March 2, 2025, coinciding with the third anniversary of the martial law implementation in Ukraine. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) was used to identify depressive symptoms, while anxiety levels were assessed using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7). Sleep quality components, such as feeling rested after waking, difficulty falling asleep, problems maintaining deep sleep as well as physical and mental components of health-related quality of life (QOL) were evaluated using the visual analog scale.
Results. The study has revealed that 61.5 % of medical students experienced anxiety of varying severity; 39.4 % had clinically significant anxiety, and 18.3 % reported severe anxiety. At the same time, 18.3 % of students exhibited pronounced functional impairment (≥8 points). Depressive symptoms of any severity were present in 76.9 % of respondents; 39.4 % had clinically significant depression, and 19.2 % had severe depression. Difficulty falling asleep was reported by 57.0 % of students, mostly of mild-to-moderate severity; 49 % experienced disturbed deep sleep, with 12.0 % reporting severe disturbances. The majority of students expressed dissatisfaction with sleep quality: 33.0 % reported moderate dissatisfaction, and 23.0 % indicated significant rest disturbance. Moreover, only 38.0 % of respondents reported no impairment in the mental component and 54.0 % – in the physical component of QOL.
Conclusions. Ensuring the psychological resilience of medical students in Ukraine is critically important. Psychological support should focus not only on managing anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders but also on improving health-related quality of life to enhance overall resilience.
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