Clinical and psychometric study of asthenia in foreign applicants for medical education at different stages of training

Abstract

This article analyzes the results of the clinical and psychometric study of asthenia in foreign applicants for higher medical education at different stages of training. The study involved 110 applicants of the preparatory department (group 1) and 44 applicants of the I-II course (group 2). They were trained at Dnipro State Medical University. Duration of training was from 1 to 2 months and from 6 months to 2 years, respectively (at the time of participation in the study). The clinical and psychopathological examination was conducted using the semi-structured interview method and the psychometric investigation of the level of asthenia with using the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory scale (MFI-20). It was found that the investigated group 2 had the significantly higher frequency of detection of both complaints/symptoms and nosological forms (by 1.8 times) than group 1. The analysis of the MFI-20 scale data confirmed the clinically obtained results: the normal (24,5%) and moderate level (23,5%) of asthenia was significantly more often observed in group 1. The high level (32%) of asthenia was in group 2 that proves the maladaptive process deepening. The obtained result indicates the necessity to develop preventive, differential and corrective measures to improve the quality of life of this contingent.