Exploring the Impact of Quality of Life and Social Support on Depression, Anxiety, and Stress in Sudanese Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study across Multiple Universities in Sudan

Abstract

Abstract Medical students are more likely to develop depression, burnout, and other mental health problems than people in the general population, and their mental health tends to decline over time as they progress through medical training. Several factors may contribute to anxiety in medical students, including academic pressure, work demands, social challenges, physical stressors, financial problems, and gender. We aimed in this study to determine the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress among Sudanese medical students, and to explore the impact of quality of life and social support on these three factors in Sudanese medical students across various universities in Sudan. Methodology : We did a cross sectional study in medical students of faculty of medicine in0000 governmental and private universities in Sudan, The data collection tool composed of three questionnaires: the MOS social support survey, English Depression, anxiety, and stress scale (DASS21), and English WHO quality of life brief WHOQOLB) questionnaire Results: The participants’ age ranged from 18 to 26(mean 22.60, SD 2.44, Median 22.47), with a male to female ration of almost 1:3, We can notice that more than half of respondents had different grades of depression, anxiety, and stress. We used analysis of variance (ANOVA) to test association between academic year and depression, anxiety, and stress. Table (4) demonstrates the mean. Median, and P values of the test the results showed that there was significant difference in the scores of anxiety and stress scales among students of different academic years also showed that the young students and final year students had higher level of stress and anxiety. Conclusion : A study found that over half of them experienced depression, anxiety, and stress. The study showed that the quality of environment and physical health were important factors contributing to these mental health issues. These factors explained a significant portion of the variance in depression, anxiety, and stress. Furthermore, the study discovered that anxiety and stress levels differed among students from different academic years, with younger and final year students experiencing higher levels of stress and anxiety.