Mental Distress Common Among Medical Students

TUESDAY, Sept. 2 (HealthDay News) -- During medical school, about half of students experience burnout and one in 10 experience suicidal ideation, researchers report in the Sept. 2 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Liselotte N. Dyrbye, M.D., of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study of 4,287 medical students at seven medical schools and a longitudinal study of students at five of the seven medical schools. Response rates were 52 percent for the cross-sectional study and 65 percent for the longitudinal study.

The researchers found that 49.6 percent of the students reported burnout and that 11.2 percent reported suicidal ideation during the past year, and that burnout and low mental quality of life at baseline were independent predictors of suicidal ideation. They also found that 26.8 percent of the 370 students who initially met the criteria for burnout eventually recovered and were significantly less likely to report suicidal ideation.

"Our results indicate a high prevalence of suicidal ideation among U.S. medical students and suggest that the increased risk for suicide among physicians may begin in medical school," the authors conclude. "Future research is needed to develop practical ways to identify students at risk and strategies to reduce student distress in the hope of improving the well-being of all students."

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