Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Among Medical Students During COVID-19 at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman

Introduction With the spread of COVID-19 around the world, several interventions have been reported to be useful to control disease transmission. However, the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of medical students is underreported in the Arab world. This study aimed to explore the rates of depression, anxiety, and stress among medical students at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) and to identify the factors associated with a higher risk of these mental disruptions.Method This was a cross-sectional study where medical students were approached to answer an online questionnaire via emails from the administrative affairs in the College of Medicine in SQU from 16/01/2021 to 18/05/2021. A 21-item depression, anxiety, and stress (DASS-21) scale was used as a self-reporting tool to measure the negative feelings of depression, anxiety, and stress.Results Out of 700 students, 184 (26.3%) students responded fully to the study questionnaire. More than half of the participants were females (58.7%, n=108), and the mean (SD) age was 20.31 (1.642). Most students were Omani (93.5%, n=172), and 34.2% (n=63) lived in Muscat. More than half of the students (51.6%) were in phase 2 of the academic years, in which the majority were considered within the cohort >= 2017 (81%, n=149), with a mean (SD) GPA of 2.9 (1.5). Scores from the DASS-21 scale showed that 29.4% vs 27.2% vs 14.7% had extremely severe depression vs anxiety and vs stress. The proportion of students who reported lower GPAs was significantly associated with higher scores of severe-to-extremely-severe depression (P=0.001), anxiety (P=<0.001), and stress (P=0.001). Living in Muscat vs other regions was associated with severe anxiety and stress (P=0.038 and P=0.007, respectively).Conclusion Similar to a few studies in Oman, this study confirms the high rates of depression, anxiety, and stress among medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results may be utilized to alert decision-makers, student academic council, and academic authority to the need to adopt a preventive mental health policy and design guidelines with resilience measures for college students, including prolonged cognitive-behavioral interventions and recovery programs.