Mind the grades: Investigating the Relationship between Academic Performance and Mental Distress among Medical Students

Background: Mental distress and psychological issues are among the prevalent issues that medical students face and it significantly impacts their academic performance. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation that exists between academic performance and degree of depression, anxiety, and stress levels among undergraduates in medicine. Methods: This cross-sectional study was a descriptive research done at Isra University, Hyderabad between a period of August to December 2023. The participants of the study were first-, second-, and third-year undergraduate medical students of basic sciences of any gender who were willing to participate. The mental health of the participants was determined by the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) and the latest examination findings were recorded to determine academic performance. Results: Among 463 respondents, 71.27 percent were females and 28.72 percent were males. The incidences of depression, anxiety and stress were established to be 69.97, 71.05 and 36.93, respectively. There were significant differences (p<0.05) in prevalence of these conditions of mental health across age groups, gender, residence, and academic year. Age, gender, residence, and type of accommodation were significantly related (p<0.05) with academic performance. Moreover, academic scores were found to have a strong negative correlation with the levels of depression (r= -0.894, p<0.001), anxiety (r= -0.922, p<0.001), and stress (r= -0.916, p<0.001). Conclusions: The study concludes that academic performance and DAS scores have significant negative correlation. It means that the higher the level of the DAS symptoms, the lower the academic score among the undergraduate medical students.