SynthesisFrontiers in public health2023
Prevalence of common mental disorders among medical students in China: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Frontiers in public health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Global prevalence and associated factors of social anxiety disorder among medical students: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Is There a Burnout Epidemic among Medical Students? Results from a Systematic Review.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Pooled it
- Teaching staff as gatekeepers for student mental health in higher education: findings from an exploratory sequential mixed-methods study on mental health promotion, psychological crises, and stigma.International journal of mental health systems · 2026Article
- Prevalence of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder among international medical students from conflict zones versus non-conflict areas: a cross-sectional study.The Journal of the Egyptian Public Health Association · 2026Article
- Satisfaction with telepsychiatry and mental health stigma among health sciences students in Egyptian universities.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- The impact of death attitudes on death anxiety among nursing interns: a multicenter cross-sectional study.BMC palliative care · 2026Article
- Healing the healers: understanding the rising mental health crisis among Chinese medical students.Internal and emergency medicine · 2026Article
- Examining mediating pathways among factors associated with adolescent dissociative experiences: a gender-stratified structural equation modeling analysis.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Global prevalence of different levels of anxiety and stress symptoms in healthcare students: A meta-analysis and meta-regression.Annals of general psychiatry · 2026Article
- Perceived value, structural barriers, and academic burnout under the "hard science vs. soft skills" paradox: a cross-sectional study among Chinese medical students.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Internship experience and psychological symptoms among Chinese healthcare trainees: evidence from structural equation modeling.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- War exposure and mental health in Sudanese medical students: the roles of psychological flexibility and self-esteem.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Suicidal Behaviors Among Medical Students: A Scoping Review of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- The Impact of Parafunctional Habits on Temporomandibular Disorders in Medical Students.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- A Six-Year Longitudinal Study of Psychological Distress, Depression, Anxiety, and Internet Addiction Among Students at One Medical Faculty.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Psychological impact and coping mechanisms among sudanese medical students: a study on anxiety, depression, behavioral, and cognitive changes post COVID-19 lockdown and ongoing conflict.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Strategies to support the mental health and well-being of health and care workforce: a rapid review of reviews.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Review
- Depressive and anxiety symptoms among higher vocational nursing interns in Ningbo, China: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- A cross-sectional study of the current status of psychological health and its correlation with academic performance in medical students: taking medical students in a medical university in China as examples.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- The association between childhood trauma and suicidal ideation in medical students: the role of alexithymia and resilience.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: The prevalence of mental distress is common for medical students in China due to factors such as the long duration of schooling, stressful doctor-patient relationship, numerous patient population, and limited medical resources. However, previous studies have failed to provide a comprehensive prevalence of these mental disorders in this population. This meta-analysis aimed to estimate the prevalence of common mental disorders (CMDs), including depression, anxiety, and suicidal behaviors, among medical students in China. Methods: We conducted a systematic search for empirical studies on the prevalence of depression, anxiety, suicide attempt, suicide ideation, and suicide plan in Chinese medical students published from January 2000 to December 2020. All data were collected pre-COVID-19. The prevalence and heterogeneity estimations were computed by using a random-effects model and univariate meta-regression analyses. Results: A total of 197 studies conducted in 23 provinces in China were included in the final meta-analysis. The prevalence data of depression, anxiety, suicide attempt, suicide ideation, and suicide plan were extracted from 129, 80, 21, 53, and 14 studies, respectively. The overall pooled crude prevalence for depression was 29% [38,309/132,343; 95% confidence interval (CI): 26%-32%]; anxiety, 18% (19,479/105,397; 95% CI: 15%-20%); suicide ideation, 13% (15,546/119,069; 95% CI: 11%-15%); suicide attempt, 3% (1,730/69,786; 95% CI: 1%-4%); and suicide plan, 4% (1,188/27,025; 95% CI: 3%-6%). Conclusion: This meta-analysis demonstrated the high prevalence of CMDs among Chinese medical students. Further research is needed to identify targeted strategies to improve the mental health of this population.
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