PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS AT FIVE UNIVERSITIES IN TBILISI, GEORGIA: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY OF PERCEIVED STRESS, ANXIETY, AND SLEEP QUALITY.

AIM OF STUDY: Medical students carry a heavier psychological burden than the general student population, and data from Georgia and the South Caucasus region are scarce. The present study aimed to describe levels of perceived stress, anxiety, and sleep disturbance among medical students at five universities in Tbilisi, Georgia, and to compare these outcomes across years of undergraduate medical training. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross-sectional observational study enrolled 300 medical students from five universities, all located in Tbilisi, Georgia, using stratified purposive sampling rather than random selection (n = 60 per institution; n = 50 per year of study). Data were collected face-to-face during March-April 2026 using the English-language versions of three validated self-report instruments: the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7), and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Analyses included Pearson correlations, independent-samples t-tests, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Tukey post-hoc comparisons. Ethics approval was obtained from the Research Development and Support Department of Georgian American University (No. #ethc-00012026). RESULTS: The mean PSS-10 score was 26.20 (SD=8.19); 96.3% of students fell in the moderate-to-high stress range. The mean GAD-7 score was 13.45 (SD=5.72); 73.7% met criteria for moderate-to-severe anxiety. A total of 58.0% reported fairly or very bad sleep quality. All three outcomes were significantly intercorrelated: PSS-10 vs. GAD-7 (r=0.736, P<0.001); PSS-10 vs. PSQI disturbance (r=0.561, P<0.001). Senior students (years 4-6) reported significantly higher stress than junior students (years 1-3): t(298)=-5.379, P<0.001, Cohen's d=0.62. One-way ANOVA showed higher scores in successive years of study: F(5,294)=8.220, P<0.001, η²=0.123, with the highest mean in year 6 (29.84). CONCLUSIONS: Psychological distress was highly prevalent in this sample, and stress scores were higher in later years of study. Year 3, when students move from preclinical to clinical training, marked the point at which scores began to rise. Because the sample was purposive and limited to Tbilisi, the findings should not be generalized to all medical students in Georgia. Within these limits, the results support routine mental health screening and stronger support services at the participating universities.