COVID-19 Anxiety, Academic Burnout and Academic Achievement Among Medical Stagers and Interns at Guilan University of Medical Sciences, in 2020

Medical students, as part of the healthcare team, are directly exposed to challenging conditions during the COVID-19 epidemic. This study investigated COVID-19 anxiety, burnout, and academic achievement in stagers and interns of Guilan University of Medical Sciences.

The present analytical cross-sectional study was conducted on medical students and interns studying at Guilan University of Medical Sciences in the 2020-2021 academic year. Of whom, 150 students participated in this study. Corona Disease Anxiety Scale (CDAS) and Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey (MBI-SS) were used to measure anxiety and academic burnout of the students, respectively. Measuring students’ academic achievement was based on Grade Point Average (GPA). Data analysis was performed using chi-square, Mann-Whitney U test, and partial Spearman correlation Coefficient.

The participation rate in this study was 92%. The results showed that 6.5% of students had high anxiety, 18.8% reported high academic burnout, and 79% reported the average level of burnout score. Also, the participants’ GPA was 16.76±1.30. The academic burnout score was significantly higher in male students than female ones (t=-2.01; P=0.04). The GPA was significantly higher in students under 24 years old than in older students (t=4.71; P=0.01). The partial correlation coefficient adjusted for sex showed a positive and significant correlation between CDAS and MBI-SS (r=0.346; P<0.001).

The present study results showed that medical stagers and intern students had high academic burnout during the COVID-19 epidemic, and there was a weak and direct correlation between academic burnout and COVID-19 anxiety. Accordingly, to reduce the consequences of the COVID-19 epidemic, appropriate therapeutic and educational interventions should be provided to empower stagers and intern students.