Background: Cerebrovascular stroke is often associated with neuropsychiatric diseases, such as depression, anxiety disorder, apathy, cognitive disorder, mania, psychosis, effective pathological display, catastrophic reactions, fatigue, and anosognosia. With advanced age, the risk of stroke occurrence increases significantly. The study aimed to identify the level of knowledge of post-stroke depression (PSD) among medical students and interns at King Faisal University.
Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional approach was used targeting all medical students and interns at King Faisal University. The study was conducted during the period from 1st Aug 2020 to 30th Sept 2020. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire, which included participantsÂ’ sociodemographic data, academic grades, grade point average (GPA), and awareness regarding stroke and PSD.
Results: A total of 314 medical students and interns participated in the study. Regarding the clinical presentation of stroke, 61% of the pre-clinical grade students, 65% the of clinical-grade students, and 79.4% the of medical interns reported that ataxia happens during the stroke (p = 0.017). Precisely 86.3% of pre-clinical grade students reported psychological factors for PSD compared to 95% of students in the clinical grades and 95.6%
of interns. Social factors were significantly higher among clinical-grade students (p = 0.001). Regarding methods for diagnosing PSD, a good awareness level surrounding PSD and its risk factors were detected in 62.1% of all study participants. This awareness level was significantly higher among interns than other students.
Conclusion: The current study revealed that medical students and interns at King Faisal University had a higher awareness level regarding stroke symptoms and risk factors than PSD. The awareness level was higher among interns than undergraduate students, especially for PSD.
Key words: PSD, post-stroke depression, cerebrovascular stroke, medical students, interns, awareness
|
