ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The objectives of the study were to identify the psychological impacts of lockdown on medical students due to COVID-19 and to discover the educational perplexities being faced by these students during the lockdown. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Medical College (SSRMC), Mauritius. Questions were designed after an extensive review of the literature, so as to ensure relevance to meet the objectives of the study. RESULTS: Out of 700 undergraduate medical students, 663 participated, which equates to a response rate of 95%. 348 (52.5 %) of the students were stationed in their hometown and the remaining 315 (47.5 %) were stationed in Mauritius. 464(70%) of the students suffered from the psychological impacts of lockdown whereas 634(95.6%) of students suffered from the educational impact thereof. Mauritian students suffered a greater educational impact aOR4.236[1.606-11.173]. Psychological impacts aOR 1.280 [0.917-1.789] and educational impacts aOR 2.464 [1.076-5.647] were more prevalent in hometown-based students. Students pursuing their clinical studies had aOR1.219 [ 0.531-2.798] a greater educational impact as compared to preclinical studies. CONCLUSION: Lockdown triggered both educational and psychological impacts on medical students. On a psychological basis it was proven that the lockdown induced a feeling of guilt and had a greater psychological impact in pre-clinical students. The COVID-19 situation was simultaneously indicated to be a motivator in the majority of students; however, juxtaposed to this was the fact that various students felt as if they couldn't study at the same level that they were accustomed to due to the uncertainty of the situation.
ABSTRACT
This narrative review of the literature aims to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the younger age group in terms of the Global mortality of COVID-19 in comparison to Nepal. An extensive literature survey of English literature was conducted using Pubmed, Medline, Google Scholar, Embase, WHO Nepal Situation Updates on COVID-19, Situation update report, Ministry of Health and Population-Nepal from January 25, 2020 to June 20, 2020. According to the Ministry of Health and population of The Government of Nepal, as of June 20, 2020, out of a total of 8,605 laboratory confirmed cases reported to date, the pattern shows that most of the cases fell into the cohort of 21-30 years (37.72%), followed by 11-20 years (24.35 %), 31-40 years (21.97%) and 41-50 years (9.2%). To date Nepal has recorded a total of twenty-two deaths. At first evaluation these figures may not strike one as alarming, but on further investigation it is noted that the mean age is 42. 32 ± 19.632 SD years, and out of which male patients accounted for 77.3% and female accounted for 22.7%. The current situation of COVID-19 and how it develops in Nepal should be closely monitored and could be of international concern as it may be the early indicator of a changing pattern in COVID-19 infections. Nepal may therefore act as a global watch dog, due to the fact that the world could very possibly expose the younger age group under the notion that they are more resilient to the virus, when in reality that notion may be changing. This trend must be monitored and further investigated in order to establish the risk of the events unfolding in Nepal.