Prevalence and correlates of psychiatric morbidity, comorbid anxiety and depression among medical students in public and private tertiary institutions in a Nigerian state: a cross-sectional analytical study

INTRODUCTION: the study assessed the prevalence and factors associated with psychiatric morbidity (an array of psychological disorders), and comorbid anxiety and depression among medical students in Ekiti State, Nigeria. METHODS: a cross-sectional study of medical students in two universities (one public and one private) in Ekiti state was conducted. A semi-structured questionnaire with adapted questions from the General Health Questionnaire and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale was used to obtain information on socio-demographic characteristics, psychiatric morbidity and comorbid anxiety and depression. Data was collected from April 2019 to August 2019. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21. RESULTS: a total of 944 medical students participated in the survey. The overall prevalence of psychiatric morbidity and comorbid anxiety and depression among the respondents was 25.0% (CI = 22.1-27.8) and 14.3% (CI = 12.3-16.5) respectively. The factors independently associated with psychiatric morbidity included being a student of a private institution [adjusted odds ratio [AOR] =6.533, [95% confidence interval [C.I] =3.298-12.940], average academic performance [AOR =1.711, [95% C.I =1.173-2.496], below average academic performance [AOR =2.425, [95% C.I =1.313-4.478], and having a father or a mother with highest level of formal education below first degree [AOR =3.147, [95% C.I =1.579-6.272] and [AOR =2.053, [95% C.I =1.074-3.927] respectively. The factors independently associated with comorbid anxiety and depression were being a student receiving less than one dollar equivalent per day as allowance [AOR = 1.953, [95% C.I = 1.135-3.360] and being a student from the Igbo ethnic group [AOR = 0.533, [95% C.I = 0.333-0.853]. CONCLUSION: the prevalence of psychiatry morbidity and comorbid anxiety and depression was high among medical students in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Periodic medical [mental health] screening for medical students may be appropriate to screen, detect and manage psychiatric comorbidities. This will help to ensure optimal mental health for this group of university students.