Factors Associated with Psychological Distress Among General Medicine Students in Congo

Introduction: Psychological distress (PD) is a negative emotional state resulting from prolonged exposure to a stressor or an accumulation of environmental stressors. Objective: To identify factors associated with PD among general medicine students in Brazzaville. Patients and methods: This was a cross-sectional analytical study. It was carried out over a period of 4 months at the FSSA. It focused on general medicine student (GMSs) from the first to the seventh year of medicine who consented to participate in the study. The variables studied were sociodemographic, academic, related to lifestyle and the medical educational environment, related to psychological distress and related to the need for psychological help and stress management. Results: The prevalence of psychological distress among medical students was 63.4%. The mean age of medical students was 21.5±2.8 years and the sex ratio was 0.6. Both parents were alive in 88.7%. The main source of funding was the parents in 47.5% and 70.3% of the GMSs who completed the internship had PD. In multivariate analysis, female gender (OR = 1.60; p = 0.015) and having at least one deceased parent (OR = 0.25; p = 0.036) were predictors of PD. Conclusion: PD is a concern for general medicine students in Brazzaville. Among the factors studied, female gender and poor perception of the educational environment are predictors of PD.