An analysis of mental health status of 853 students in military medical university

AIM: To evaluate the mental health status of military medical students and to find out the possible psychological problems. METHODS: Eight hundred and fifty-three students of a military medical university were given psychological test by the Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90), Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS). RESULTS: Fifty-nine students were found to have some possible psychological problems. Compared with SCL-90 norm of youth group, the medical students tested had higher scores (P0.01) in all factors except Interpersonal Sensitivity and Phobic Anxiety. High scores were found especially Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Depression, Anxiety and Psychoticism. There was a positive correlation between anxiety factors of SCL-90 and the scores of SAS and between the depression factors of SCL-90 and the scores of SDS, indicating that SAS and SDS could be used as fast useful screening tools to evaluate psychological problems. CONCLUSION: Military medical students on the whole have very good mental healthy status, but some students still need more psychological guidance and consultation in the factors of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Depression, Anxiety and Psychoticism.