Yoshito Nishimura 1 , Kanako Ochi 1 , Kazuki Tokumasu 1 , Mikako Obika 1 , Hideharu Hagiya 1 , Hitomi Kataoka 1 , Fumio Otsuka 1 Show Affiliations »
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected medical education. However, little data are available about medical students' distress during the pandemic. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to provide details on how medical students have been affected by the pandemic. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted. A total of 717 medical students participated in the web-based survey. The survey included questions about how the participants' mental status had changed from before to after the Japanese nationwide state of emergency (SOE). RESULTS: Out of 717 medical students, 473 (66.0%) participated in the study. In total, 29.8% (141/473) of the students reported concerns about the shift toward online education, mostly because they thought online education would be ineffective compared with in-person learning. The participants' subjective mental health status significantly worsened after the SOE was lifted (P<.001). Those who had concerns about a shift toward online education had higher odds of having generalized anxiety and being depressed (odds ratio [OR] 1.97, 95% CI 1.19-3.28) as did those who said they would request food aid (OR 1.99, 95% CI 1.16-3.44) and mental health care resources (OR 3.56, 95% CI 2.07-6.15). CONCLUSIONS: Given our findings, the sudden shift to online education might have overwhelmed medical students. Thus, we recommend that educators inform learners that online learning is not inferior to in-person learning, which could attenuate potential depression and anxiety. ©Yoshito Nishimura, Kanako Ochi, Kazuki Tokumasu, Mikako Obika, Hideharu Hagiya, Hitomi Kataoka, Fumio Otsuka. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 18.02.2021.
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected medical education. However, little data are available about medical students' distress during the pandemic. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to provide details on how medical students have been affected by the pandemic. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted. A total of 717 medical students participated in the web-based survey. The survey included questions about how the participants ' mental status had changed from before to after the Japanese nationwide state of emergency (SOE). RESULTS: Out of 717 medical students, 473 (66.0%) participated in the study. In total, 29.8% (141/473) of the students reported concerns about the shift toward online education, mostly because they thought online education would be ineffective compared with in-person learning. The participants ' subjective mental health status significantly worsened after the SOE was lifted (P<.001). Those who had concerns about a shift toward online education had higher odds of having generalized anxiety and being depressed (odds ratio [OR] 1.97, 95% CI 1.19-3.28) as did those who said they would request food aid (OR 1.99 , 95% CI 1.16-3.44) and mental health care resources (OR 3.56, 95% CI 2.07-6.15). CONCLUSIONS: Given our findings, the sudden shift to online education might have overwhelmed medical students. Thus, we recommend that educators inform learners that online learning is not inferior to in-person learning, which could attenuate potential depression and anxiety . ©Yoshito Nishimura, Kanako Ochi, Kazuki Tokumasu, Mikako Obika, Hideharu Hagiya, Hitomi Kataoka, Fumio Otsuka. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 18.02.2021.
Entities: Chemical
Disease
Gene
Species
Keywords:
COVID-19; anxiety; depression; medical student; online education; pandemic
Year: 2021
PMID： 33556033 DOI： 10.2196/25232
Source DB: PubMed Journal: J Med Internet Res ISSN： 1438-8871 Impact factor: 5.428