Analysis of Mental Health Status Before and After Psychological Intervention in Response to Public Health Emergencies by Medical Students: a Prospective Single-arm Clinical Trial

Background: Many human mobility restrictions have been adopted during the novel 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Here we explored the effects of psychological interventions on the mental health status of medical students under the regular prevention and control of the pandemic.

Methods: By voluntarily participating in interest groups, 121 third-year medical undergraduate students in a university in Jiangsu Province underwent psychological interventions for 1 year. Their mental status was assessed by using Zung's Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), and Somatic Self-rating Scale (SSS) before and after the interventions. Psychological coping styles were compared by using the trait coping style questionnaire (TCSQ). Each assessment scale is evaluated every 3 months, with the first survey results as the baseline data and compared with the last results. The resulting data was passed by SPSS 23 0 for normal testing and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA).

Results: During the regular response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the prevalence of anxiety, depression, and somatization symptoms was 25.62% 7.44%, 28.93% 18.18%, and 21.49% 9.92%, respectively, before and after psychological interventions (all P<0.05). The positive (31.73±4.26 38.26±3.72) and negative (27.69±3.19 20.73±2.8) coping styles significantly differed before and after intervention (both P<0.05).

Conclusions: Varying degrees of anxiety, depression, and somatization symptoms can occur in medical students during the regular response to COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the impact of public health emergencies on college students. Interest group-based psychological intervention, along with individual mental health counseling, can positively promote the mental health of college students and effectively improve their anxiety.