Examining factors that drive health-related students to seek help for psychological challenges.

Objectives: This study aims to find the prevalence of mental health problems and the rates of seeking mental health care among health-related students, as well as identifying factors associated with seeking mental health care. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among students from the Faculty of Medicine at a university in the 2021 academic year. A total of 832 students voluntarily completed an online survey measuring mental health problems and factors influencing mental health care seeking. Descriptive and analytic statistics including t-test, Pearson's chi-square test, and binary logistic regression analysis, were used to analyze the data. Results: Among the participants, 46.80% (n = 389) reported experiencing mental health problems, but only 16.97% (n = 66) of them sought mental health care. Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that female (OR = 2.63 (1.08 - 6.43)) and LGBTQ (OR = 4.26 (1.36 - 13.37)) students, and those with a positive attitude toward professionals (OR = 1.10 (1.02 - 0.19)), were more likely to seek formal mental health care than those who did not. Conclusions: The study findings indicate that mental health problems are prevalent among health-related students, yet formal mental health care uptake is low. To address this issue, mental health screening programs, improved knowledge and attitudes about mental health care, and mental health training for academic staffs who work with health-related students are necessary. Future studies should explore interventions to increase the uptake of mental health services among health-related students.

Stress and associated factors with received and needed support in medical students during COVID-19 pandemic: a multicenter study.

PURPOSE: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a global health crisis that has impacted daily life due to the policies created to contain the outbreak. Recent studies showed that medical students, a high-stress population, experienced deteriorated mental well-being during the pandemic. The aim of the present study was to assess stress and the need for support among Thai medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic, as a multicenter study. METHODS: The present study was a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study which collected data from second through sixth year medical students. Data was collected during the pandemic from multiple medical schools spanning all six regions of Thailand. Questionnaires included: demographic data; the Thai version of the Perceived Stress Scale-10 (T-PSS-10) assessing stress level and the sources of stress; and the received supports from medical schools, the satisfaction with the supports, and the further necessary needs. RESULTS: There were 1,395 medical students who responded to the questionnaires. Mean T-PSS-10 score was 17.8. Most of the sources of stress were related to the changing of teaching and evaluation system. Students residing in larger medical schools were significantly more satisfied with received support and tended to gain greater support than those in medium and small sized schools. Stress-relieving activities arrangement was considered the most sought after additional support by students. CONCLUSION: Medical student stress levels were higher during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic levels. Stress relieving activities, availability and access to mental health resources, and other strategies to reduce stress among medical students are urgently needed.

Molecular Epidemiological Study of Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease in a Kindergarten-Based Setting in Bangkok, Thailand.

Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is a contagious childhood illness and annually affects millions of children aged less than 5 years across the Asia-Pacific region. HFMD transmission mainly occurs through direct contact (person-to-person) and indirect contact with contaminated surfaces and objects. Therefore, public health measures to reduce the spread of HFMD in kindergartens and daycare centers are essential. Based on the guidelines by the Department of Disease Control, a school closure policy for HFMD outbreaks wherein every school in Thailand must close when several HFMD classrooms (more than two cases in each classroom) are encountered within a week, was implemented, although without strong supporting evidence. We therefore conducted a prospective cohort study of children attending five kindergartens during 2019 and 2020. We used molecular genetic techniques to investigate the characteristics of the spreading patterns of HFMD in a school-based setting in Bangkok, Thailand. These analyses identified 22 index cases of HFMD (symptomatic infections) and 25 cases of enterovirus-positive asymptomatic contacts (24 students and one teacher). Enterovirus (EV) A71 was the most common enterovirus detected, and most of the infected persons (8/12) developed symptoms. Other enteroviruses included coxsackieviruses (CVs) A4, CV-A6, CV-A9, and CV-A10 as well as echovirus. The pattern of the spread of HFMD showed that 45% of the subsequent enteroviruses detected in each outbreak possessed the same serotype as the first index case. Moreover, we found a phylogenetic relationship among enteroviruses detected among contact and index cases in the same kindergarten. These findings confirm the benefit of molecular genetic assays to acquire accurate data to support school closure policies designed to control HFMD infections.