Services on Demand
Journal
Article
Indicators
- Cited by SciELO
- Access statistics
Related links
- Similars in SciELO
Share
Salud mental
Print version ISSN 0185-3325
Abstract
VIDAL DE LA FUENTE, Sofía; REAL RAMIREZ, Janet; RUIZ ROSAS, Jesús Abrahán and MORERA GONZALEZ, Daniela. Evaluation of mental health and occupational stress in Mexican medical residents. Salud Ment [online]. 2020, vol.43, n.5, pp.209-218. Epub Nov 12, 2020. ISSN 0185-3325. https://doi.org/10.17711/sm.0185-3325.2020.029.
Introduction
Since mental health disorders are an emerging problem in medical residents, its detection and attention must be a priority.
Objetive
To compare the frequency of psychopathology in residents according to sociodemographic and clinical characteristics.
Method
We conducted a cross-sectional study evaluating the presence of psychopathology, as well as sociodemographic and clinical characteristics in 644 residents through online questionnaires.
Results
Among participants, 55.7% reported a psychiatric disorder at some point and 29.2% a current one; only 41.5% were under treatment. Additionally, 8.1% had attempted suicide, of which 32.4% attempted it during residency. We found that 6.5% of women and 3.3% of men presented “risk of psychopathology,” with a higher percentage of men presenting “severe psychopathology.” Individuals with “risk of psychopathology” presented significantly higher scores on all of the questionnaires, compared to those with “absence of psychopathology.”
Discussion and conclusion
Residents with occupational stress also presented higher risks of psychopathology, suicide, and substance use. Being under psychiatric treatment significantly improved the scores on the different scales. Because residency is a period that may increase the probability of suffering psychopathology, interventions should be aimed at reducing occupational stress and bringing specialized care.
Keywords : Medical residency; psychopathology; occupational stress; substance use.