Abstract

Background: The high rate of psychological problems especially among medical students is an issue of great concern. The rate of psychological distress among medical students in the Southeast of Nigeria and its association with academic performance is not clear.
Aim: This study determined the level of psychological distress, and its relationship with academic performance of final year medical students in a tertiary institution in Imo State, Nigeria.
Methods: This was a repeated cross-sectional cohort design of 229 final year medical students of Imo State University. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on the socio-demographic characteristics of the students, while the Kessler Psychological Distress (K10) inventory was used to obtain the global measure of psychological distress. The scores for the 5th MBBS final examinations were obtained from the faculty after the examination.
Results: Psychological distress was present in 49.8% of the respondents. Sixty-one (26.6%) of the respondents were mildly distressed, 26 (11.4%) were moderately distressed, and 27 (11.8%) were severely distressed. There was no association between psychological distress and academic performance (p > 0.05).
Conclusion: The rate of psychological distress among the medical students was found to be high but was not related to the students’ academic performance in their 5th MBBS final examination.

Key words: Academic performance, Medical students, Nigeria, Psychological distress