Prevalence of Anxiety Disorder among MBBS under Graduate Students during COVID-19 Pandemic, Tamilnadu

Anxiety disorder is one of the most common psychiatric co-morbidity found to be prevalent in many pandemic situations or while experiencing a delimiting illness to self or community. This study aimed at screening undergraduate students pursuing MBBS for anxiety disorder. It was focused on early diagnosis, intervention and creating awareness among themselves and their community. The study was done among 272 undergarduate medical students from Tamil nadu during the period when COVID- 19 infection was prevalent in the community. They were requested to fill a proforma and questionnaire and were screened with Hamilton Anxiety scale. Study reported 80.9% mild, 11.8% moderate and 5.1 % severe levels of anxiety in study population.

Aim: To study the prevalence of anxiety among MBBS under graduates during COVID pandemic in Tamilnadu.

Study Design: Cross sectional online screening and assessment study.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was done online from Meenakshi Medical college and Research Institute, Enathur, Kanchipuram, Tamilnadu, from December 2020 to January 2021.

Methodology: The study included 272 MBBS undergraduate students of Tamilnadu (180 female and 92 male participants; age range 18-24 years All the participants were asked to fill an online proforma questionnaire following an online consent form and were screened and assessed for anxiety disorder using Hamilton Anxiety scale. Students who had severe COVID-19 infection or non consenting individuals were excluded from the study.

Results: 80% of the study population belong to age group between 19-21 years of age. This study had more female (66.2%) participants when compared to male (33.8%). Majority of the study population belong to Hindu religion (89%) followed by Christians (5.9%) and Muslims (5.1%). Majority of the study population belong to upper socio-economic status (76.5%). Most of the study population were not infected by COVID-19 disease 76.8%) followed by 14.7% with past history of COVID -19 infection and 8.5% were actively infected during the study period. Most of the study population reported on anxious mood (85.3%) with various severities ranging from mild (32.7%), moderate (34.9%), severe (13.6%), very severe (4%) while only 14.7% had no anxious mood. 67.6% of the study population reported of anxious mood from mild to moderate in severity. 84.2% of study population reported on tension with various severities ranging from mild (30.5%), moderate (31.3%), severe (16.2%), very severe (6.3%), whereas 15.8% reported on absence of tension. 62.1% of the study population reported of having fearfulness with varying severities mild (27.2%), moderate (25%), severe (6.6%) and very severe (3.3%) while 37.9% did not report of fear. Majority of the study population reported of insomnia (63.6%) with varying severities of mild (26.5%), moderate (16.9%), severe (13.2%) and very severe (7%) while 36.4% did not report of insomnia.71% of the study population reported of impaired attention and concentration. 71% of the study population reported of depressed mood, mild (29.8%) , moderate (19.1%), severe (16.2%)and very severe (5.9%) while 29% had no mood symptoms. Hamilton – Anxiety scale revealed that 80.9% had mild, 11.8% moderate, 2.2% severe and 5.1% had very severe anxiety levels.

Conclusion: Majority of the study population had anxiety symptom severity ranging from mild to very severe. Pandemic situation had led to an increase in the incidence of anxiety disorder even among medical students. Early screening and management of symptoms might lead to better prognosis.