title: Prevalence of Psychiatric Morbidity Among Undergraduate Students of a Dental College in West Bengal.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Stresses of medical course affects the academic performance as well as physical and psychological health of the students negatively. In the present day scenario every one of us has vulnerability to have psychiatric morbidity. Like other young adults, undergraduate dental students are similarly vulnerable to turmoil due to academic and social stresses, which often hamper the educational achievement. Early detection and treatment of psychological morbidities shorten the suffering leading to less social impairment in long term.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to assess the psychiatric morbidity of dental students and the factors affecting their mental health.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross sectional, descriptive and correlation study was conducted in North Bengal Dental College, a rural dental college of West Bengal, India.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study sample consisted of a total of 89 dental students. The student enrollment was done by "simple random sampling method". The semi-structured proforma and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ)-28 were used to collect data and to assess the psychiatric morbidity.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pearson's correlation followed by multivariate linear regression analysis was done to assess the effect of academic achievement, positive and negative event on the GHQ total score.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall mean GHQ total score in the study population was 5.33, with a SD of 4.85 which was above the cutoff (>4) score. Karl Pearson correlation co-efficient r-values for GHQ total score with 'academic achievement' and 'negative events' score were 0.718 and 0.628 respectively and p-values were 0.001 and 0.001.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The poor academic performance and negative events had strong impact on psychological morbidity of dental students. The findings of our study can't be generalized for all undergraduate dental student due to small sample size and non inclusion of many other variables.
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, North Bengal Medical College , Darjeeling, West Bengal, India .
authors.forename: Manabendra
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Makhal
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Dentistry, North Bengal Medical College , Darjeeling, West Bengal, India .
authors.forename: Pradip Kumar
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Ray
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Dentistry, RG Kar Medical College , Kolkata, West Bengal, India .
authors.forename: Sampa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ray Bhattacharya
authors.affiliation: RMO-Cum-Clinical Tutor, Department of Dentistry, North Bengal Dental College , Darjeeling, West Bengal, India .
authors.forename: Subhankar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, North Bengal Medical College , Darjeeling, West Bengal, India .
authors.forename: Uttam
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Majumder
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, North Bengal Medical College , Darjeeling, West Bengal, India .
authors.forename: Shantanu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: DE
authors.affiliation: Professor, Department of Psychiatry, North Bengal Medical College , Darjeeling, West Bengal, India .
authors.forename: Gautam Kumar
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Bandyopadhyay
authors.affiliation: Professor, Department of Psychiatry, North Bengal Medical College , Darjeeling, West Bengal, India .
authors.forename: Nirmal Kumar
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Bera
keywords: Academic achievement; GHQ-28; Mental health