TRANSTORNOS EMOCIONAIS EM ACADÊMICOS DA ÁREA DE SAÚDE: QUAL A INCIDÊNCIA

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the present study was to analyze the impact of emotional disorders among students in the health sector. Methods: This was a comprehensive, inferential, cross-sectional case control study, with random samples. The prevalence of emotional disorders was assessed in 426 students (male and female) who were enrolled in Physiotherapy and Nursing courses in the ASCES College of Caruaru-PE (Brazil). The median, standard deviation and probability distribution were used in the descriptive analysis. For the inferential statistics, the normality of distribution (Shapiro Wilks) and the homogeneity of variances (Bartlett) were determined, followed by the Mann-Whitney test. The level of significance was set at p≤0.05 for all tests. Results: Among the students assessed, there was a predominance of young female individuals with significant levels of anxiety (55.3% - Physiotherapy and 64.3% - Nursing) and depression (56.56% Physiotherapy and 45.6% Nursing). We used the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) when correlating the courses to the periods and found a significance value of p=0.01 in the 5th semester and of p=0.016 in the 7th semester. The BDI recorded a significant difference of p=0.01 in the 9th semester, during which time the students in the Physiotherapy course had notably high scores. Conclusion: The results indicate the presence of emotional disorders among health students. Significant indices for anxiety and depression were recorded for both courses, although anxiety was more significant. These findings contribute to the debate about the mental health of students and the need to adopt preventive measures and to carry out interventions when necessary.