ONLINE LEARNING: DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, STRESS SYMPTOMATOLOGY AMONG STUDENTS OF WAH MEDICAL COLLEGE DURING COVID 19 QUARANTINE
Keywords:
anxiety, covid 19, depression, e-learning, Medical students, online learning, stressAbstract
Introduction: The students faced new worries and issues with the discontinuation of on-campus teaching and the change to online
education during the COVID-19 quarantine. This significant change had a detrimental effect on their mental health and cognitive
functioning.
Objectives:
1. To assess depression, anxiety & stress among medical students during online learning.
2. To determine the association of depression, anxiety & stress with gender & residential status of the students.
Study Design: Cross-sectional study.
Place and Duration of Study: Wah Medical College, Wah Cantt. 06 months (December 2020-May 2021).
Material and Methods: Data collection was done by Google Forms, using Depression, Anxiety & Stress Scale (DASS) 21questionnaire
(Cronbach alpha >0.70). The Google form link was shared with all 500 MBBS students through their class WhatsApp groups. Only
180 students submitted the response giving a response rate of 36%. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26 was used
for data analysis. The descriptive variables were determined as Means & Standard Deviation (SD), frequencies & percentages. The
Chi-square test executed the inferential analyses, with a predetermined alpha (α) < 0.05.
Results: Male students were 60(33.3 %) and female students were 120(66.6%) . The proportion of rural students was 32 (17.8%)
and 148 (82.2%) were urban students. Stress was reported more than anxiety and depression among the students. Gender did not
significantly correlate with depression, anxiety, or stress (p-value>0.5). Depression was significantly more reported among rural
students than urban students (p-value <0.05).
Conclusion: In terms of mental health, both male and female students were equally affected by online learning during the quarantine
period of COVID-19.