Association between level of anxiety and degree of psychosomatic features in medical students at a private university in Northern Peru

Abstract

Introduction. University students experience multiple academic and social activities that cause enormous anxiety and stress, affecting them psychologically and physically. In this case, the psychosomatic symptoms, resulting from stress and anxiety, are part of a physical ailment and their emergence can be linked to the setting and time when they occur.

Objective. To determine the association between anxiety levels and the degree of psychosomatic features (PF).

Method. A study with a cross-sectional analytical design was developed, which included a total of 352 medical students from the city of Piura, Peru, to whom the PHQ-15 test was administered through Google Forms. Those with a previous psychiatric diagnosis were excluded.

Results. It was found that PF are influenced by being female (RPa = 1.45, CI 95% = [1.23, 1.71], p ≤ .001), and having mild (RPa = 1.11, CI 95% = [1.20, 1.63], p ≤ .001) and moderate anxiety levels (RPa = 1.7, CI 95% = [1.24, 2.34], p = .001).

Discussion and conclusion. The presence of a mental condition is necessary for the presence of PF. These stressors create selective alterations of large-scale brain networks involved in the cognitive control, regulation and processing of emotions, stress, and somatic-visceral perception. The study concludes that psychosomatic features are found in approximately 75% of medical students and anxiety in approximately 15%. Mild and moderate anxiety is an influential factor in psychosomatic features, as is being female.