First- and last-year medical students: is there a difference in the prevalence and intensity of anxiety and depressive symptoms?

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. Method: 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. Conclusion: 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. .

Perfil e prática profissional de psiquiatras no Brasil / Professional profile and practice of psychiatrists in Brazil

Com o objetivo de identificar o perfil profissional de psiquiatras do Brasil, foram escolhidos para estudo cinco Estados representativos de cada regiäo do País (Bahia, Pará, Rio de Janeiro, Säo Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, além do Distrito Federal). A amostra consistiu de 430 membros da ABP, que responderam a questionário enviado pelo correio. Os dados foram analisados pelo sistema EPI-INFO. Verificou-se que 76,5 por cento dos psiquiatras estudados fazem ou fizeram supervisäo de seu trabalho, 65, 1 por cento participam de grupos de estudo, 51,9 por cento submeteram-se a psicoterapia pessoal, 71,2 por cento foram ou säo pacientes de psicanálise. Quanto à atividade profissional, 30,2 por cento do tempo säo dedicados a instituiçöes públicas, 11,6 por cento a instituiçöes privadas e 48,3 por cento ao consultório particular. Neste, predominam as técnicas psicoterápicas

Ambulatorio de psiquiatria do Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre, 1986-caracteristicas demograficas, diagnosticos e tratamentos / Psychiatric outpatient clinic of the Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre, 1986 - demographic characteristics, diagnosis and treatments

Os autores revisaram os prontuarios de todos os pacientes com mais de 17 anos atendidos no Ambulatorio de Psiquiatria doo Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre(num total de 668), em 1986. Objetivando caracterizar a populacao atendida. Encontrou-se que o paciente medio era adulto jovem feminino, branco, casado, de afazeres domesticos, procedente de Porto Alegre, encaminhado por medicos de outras areas do HCPA com diagnostico predominante de quadro nao psicotico e que recebe atendimento individual entre 1 a 4 consultas. A metade dospacientes usava medicacao