Mental health in medical, dentistry and veterinary students: cross-sectional online survey

BACKGROUND: The mental health of university students, especially medical students, is of growing concern in the UK. AIM: To estimate the prevalence of mental disorder in health sciences students and investigate help-seeking behaviour. METHOD: An online survey from one English university (n = 1139; 53% response rate) collected data on depression (using the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire), anxiety (seven-item Generalised Anxiety Disorder Assessment), alcohol use (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test), self-harm and well-being, as well as help seeking. RESULTS: A quarter of the students reported symptoms of moderate/severe depression and 27% reported symptoms of moderate/severe anxiety. Only 21% of students with symptoms of severe depression had sought professional help; the main reason for not seeking help was fear of documentation on academic records. CONCLUSIONS: The study highlights the extent of mental health problems faced by health science students. Barriers to help seeking due to concerns about fitness-to-practise procedures urgently need to be addressed to ensure that this population of students can access help in a timely fashion. DECLARATION OF INTEREST: None.