title: First- and last-year medical students: is there a difference in the prevalence and intensity of anxiety and depressive symptoms?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Medical training is considered a significant stress factor. We sought to assess the prevalence and intensity of anxiety and depressive symptoms in medical students and compare samples of first-year and sixth-year students.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a cross-sectional study of first- and sixth-year medical students who attended classes regularly. The study instruments were a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 232 students (110 first-year, 122 sixth-year) completed the questionnaires, for a response rate of 67.4%. Overall 50.4% of respondents were male (56.4% of first-year and 45.1% of sixth-year students). Anxiety symptoms were reported by 30.8% of first-year students and 9.4% of sixth-year students (p < 0.001). Female students were more affected by anxiety. There were no significant between-group differences in depressive symptoms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A higher prevalence of anxiety symptoms was found in first-year medical students as compared with sixth-year students. Strategies should be developed to help medical students, particularly female students, manage these symptoms at the beginning of their medical training.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Bassols
authors.affiliation: UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lucas S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Okabayashi
authors.affiliation: UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Anais B da
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Bruna B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Carneiro
authors.affiliation: UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Feijó
authors.affiliation: UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Guilherme C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Guimarães
authors.affiliation: UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gabriela N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Cortes
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luis A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Rohde
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Claudio L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Eizirik
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult