Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) associated stress among medical students at a university teaching hospital in Saudi Arabia
Background and objectives: Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) outbreak in 2014 was associated with high public anxiety in the affected countries. Media speculations may have increased this psychological distress. The healthcare community was the most distressed because they wer...
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Elsevier
2020-05-01
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Series: | Journal of Infection and Public Health |
Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876034120300058 |
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Article |
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DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Abdulkarim Al-Rabiaah Mohamad-Hani Temsah Ayman A. Al-Eyadhy Gamal M. Hasan Fahad Al-Zamil Sarah Al-Subaie Fahad Alsohime Amr Jamal Ali Alhaboob Basma Al-Saadi Ali Mohammed Somily |
spellingShingle |
Abdulkarim Al-Rabiaah Mohamad-Hani Temsah Ayman A. Al-Eyadhy Gamal M. Hasan Fahad Al-Zamil Sarah Al-Subaie Fahad Alsohime Amr Jamal Ali Alhaboob Basma Al-Saadi Ali Mohammed Somily Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) associated stress among medical students at a university teaching hospital in Saudi Arabia Journal of Infection and Public Health |
author_facet |
Abdulkarim Al-Rabiaah Mohamad-Hani Temsah Ayman A. Al-Eyadhy Gamal M. Hasan Fahad Al-Zamil Sarah Al-Subaie Fahad Alsohime Amr Jamal Ali Alhaboob Basma Al-Saadi Ali Mohammed Somily |
author_sort |
Abdulkarim Al-Rabiaah |
title |
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) associated stress among medical students at a university teaching hospital in Saudi Arabia |
title_short |
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) associated stress among medical students at a university teaching hospital in Saudi Arabia |
title_full |
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) associated stress among medical students at a university teaching hospital in Saudi Arabia |
title_fullStr |
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) associated stress among medical students at a university teaching hospital in Saudi Arabia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) associated stress among medical students at a university teaching hospital in Saudi Arabia |
title_sort |
middle east respiratory syndrome-corona virus (mers-cov) associated stress among medical students at a university teaching hospital in saudi arabia |
publisher |
Elsevier |
series |
Journal of Infection and Public Health |
issn |
1876-0341 |
publishDate |
2020-05-01 |
description |
Background and objectives: Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) outbreak in 2014 was associated with high public anxiety in the affected countries. Media speculations may have increased this psychological distress. The healthcare community was the most distressed because they were at the highest risk of infection. This study is the first to explore MERS-CoV epidemic impact on medical students’ perception and determinants of their psychological distress during this outbreak. Methods: We randomly selected and surveyed 200 students from the College of Medicine at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A predesigned questionnaire was answered by participants, and the collected data were statistically analyzed. Results: One hundred and seventy-four (87%) responded. Female students had a significantly higher mean stress level than males (P < 0.001). Participants had a mean GAD score of 2.7 ± 3.1 and a median of 2. Perceived sufficiency of information score was the highest mean and median (17.4 ± 4.2 and 18 respectively). College and hospital announcements were the most common source of information (25.4%). One hundred and thirty-four (77%) reported minimal anxiety, thirty-two (18.4%) reported mild anxiety, 8 (4.6%) reported moderate anxiety, and none of them reported severe anxiety (score >14). The stress level (as reported on 1–10 scale) shows significant correlation with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) score. We found in this study that significant predictors in our model, in terms of more significant to the least, were: an increased self-report on hygienic habits, self-reported social avoidance, the generalized anxiety score and finally being female gander while other variables including numbers of resources access, agreeing with public fear and knowledge score on MERS-CoV all were found to be non-significant. However, the number of accessed resources, as per students, has borderline significant correlation with higher self-reported anxiety from MERS-CoV. Conclusions: Medical students’ psychological needs during the MERS-CoV outbreak should be addressed appropriately. Our results highlight the need to establish psychological support programs for medical students during an infectious disease outbreak. Keywords: MERS-CoV, Psychological stress, Medical students, Saudi Arabia |
url |
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876034120300058 |
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doaj-f2d715a7ced54351a8d3db240d07bce22020-11-25T03:13:20ZengElsevierJournal of Infection and Public Health1876-03412020-05-01135687691Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) associated stress among medical students at a university teaching hospital in Saudi ArabiaAbdulkarim Al-Rabiaah0Mohamad-Hani Temsah1Ayman A. Al-Eyadhy2Gamal M. Hasan3Fahad Al-Zamil4Sarah Al-Subaie5Fahad Alsohime6Amr Jamal7Ali Alhaboob8Basma Al-Saadi9Ali Mohammed Somily10College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Department of Pediatrics, King Saud University Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Department of Pediatrics, King Saud University Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Prince Abdullah Bin Khaled Coeliac Disease Chair, Faculty of Medicine, King Saud University, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Department of Pediatrics, King Saud University Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Pediatrics, King Saud University Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Assiut University Children Hospital, Assiut Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, EgyptCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Department of Pediatrics, King Saud University Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Department of Pediatrics, King Saud University Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Department of Pediatrics, King Saud University Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaFamily and Community Medicine Department, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Evidence-Based Healthcare and Knowledge translation Research Chair, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Department of Pediatrics, King Saud University Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud University Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Corresponding author at: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine College of Medicine, King Saud University King Saud University Medical City PO Box 2925, Riyadh 11461 Saudi Arabia.Background and objectives: Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) outbreak in 2014 was associated with high public anxiety in the affected countries. Media speculations may have increased this psychological distress. The healthcare community was the most distressed because they were at the highest risk of infection. This study is the first to explore MERS-CoV epidemic impact on medical students’ perception and determinants of their psychological distress during this outbreak. Methods: We randomly selected and surveyed 200 students from the College of Medicine at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A predesigned questionnaire was answered by participants, and the collected data were statistically analyzed. Results: One hundred and seventy-four (87%) responded. Female students had a significantly higher mean stress level than males (P < 0.001). Participants had a mean GAD score of 2.7 ± 3.1 and a median of 2. Perceived sufficiency of information score was the highest mean and median (17.4 ± 4.2 and 18 respectively). College and hospital announcements were the most common source of information (25.4%). One hundred and thirty-four (77%) reported minimal anxiety, thirty-two (18.4%) reported mild anxiety, 8 (4.6%) reported moderate anxiety, and none of them reported severe anxiety (score >14). The stress level (as reported on 1–10 scale) shows significant correlation with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) score. We found in this study that significant predictors in our model, in terms of more significant to the least, were: an increased self-report on hygienic habits, self-reported social avoidance, the generalized anxiety score and finally being female gander while other variables including numbers of resources access, agreeing with public fear and knowledge score on MERS-CoV all were found to be non-significant. However, the number of accessed resources, as per students, has borderline significant correlation with higher self-reported anxiety from MERS-CoV. Conclusions: Medical students’ psychological needs during the MERS-CoV outbreak should be addressed appropriately. Our results highlight the need to establish psychological support programs for medical students during an infectious disease outbreak. Keywords: MERS-CoV, Psychological stress, Medical students, Saudi Arabiahttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876034120300058 |