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A CROSS-SECTIONAL RESEARCH TO HIGHLIGHT PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS IN CONNECTION WITH DEPRESSIVENESS, SOMATIC, SOCIAL ABNORMALITY AND DEPRESSION

Dr Muhammad Usama Afzal, Dr Nughza Zaheer, Dr. Muhammad Javeed

Abstract: Objective: The objective of the research was to find out psychological distress in reference to depression, social abnormality and somatic and depressiveness indications among those students who are participating in entrance exams for medical colleges. Methodology: This cross-sectional research was carried out at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Lahore from October 2017 to July 2018. The research consisted of entire those students who participated in the written examination. To find out psychological distress, entire students were demanded to fill the questionnaire regarding general health. All those candidates who obtained more than 24 marks were recalled for an initial interview and additionally evaluated on the Hamilton rating scale for depressive disorder. With the objective of data analysis, SPSS was utilized. Results: Total numbers of students were 1334 among them, five-hundred & eighty-nine (44.2%) were females and seven hundred & forty-five (55.8%) were males. The average age of the students was 18.9± 1.41 and one-hundred & eighty-two (13.6%) candidates had psychological distress. Three-hundred &twenty-three (24.2%) subjects were identified as depressive disorder along with eight-hundred and nineteen (61.4%) social dysfunction as well as the number of anxiety insomnia and somatic symptoms are four-hundred & seventy-two (35.4%) and five-hundred & sixty (42.0%) respectively. The number of cases identified with mental distress established on the bases of the questionnaire was seventy-three (22.7%) along with nine (2.8%) depressive disorder cases established on the base of Hamilton scale. Among the total of three-hundred & twenty-two candidates who were recalled with the objective of the interview, the substantial association was found between mental distress and female gender established on the marks of the questionnaire (P ˂0.05). No important gender-based association was found in those subjects who had both the assessment (p˃ 0.05). Moreover, no meaningful association was diagnosed between academic functioning and any instrument used for assessment (P˃0.05 each). Conclusion: An important substantial ratio of candidates at the entrance test for medical school level had mental distress. Keywords: Psychological Distress (PD), General Health Questionnaire (GHQ).

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