Self-reported mental health symptoms, quality of life and coping strategies in French health sciences students during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic: An online survey

Health sciences students usually report high rates of mental health problems. The COVID-19 pandemic context may have serious psychological impacts in this at-risk population. We aimed to assess the self-reported mental health status, health-related quality of life and coping strategies of health sciences students during the early stage of the pandemic. An online 128-item questionnaire sent to 17,673 health sciences students from the Claude Bernard University Lyon 1 in April 2020 assessed: a) sociodemographic characteristics, b) conditions of lockdown, c) depressive (Beck Depression Inventory- Short Form, BDI-SF), anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-A, STAI-A) and traumatic symptoms (Impact of Event Scale -Revised, IES-R), d) health-related quality of life (SF12) and e) coping strategies (Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced, Brief COPE). The participation rate was 9.9% (n=1,765). A total of 19.5% of participants reported an IES-R>33, 11.6% depressive symptoms, 58.1% anxiety symptoms, and 4.4% suicidal ideation. Their mental health-related quality of life was significantly poorer than for physical health. Female gender, COVID-like symptoms, social isolation due to the lockdown, pandemic-related financial restraint and exams-related stress were significantly associated with poorer self-reported mental health conditions. Volunteering in the healthcare system was significantly associated with lower mental health scores. Coping strategies were mostly oriented toward avoidance and positive appraisal. French health sciences students exhibited high levels of self-reported mental health problems and a poor mental health-related quality of life during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specific risk factors related to the pandemic partly explain the observed prevalence. Les étudiants en santé présentent habituellement des taux élevés de problèmes en santé mentale. La pandémie Covid-19 et le confinement pourraient avoir des conséquences délétères sur la santé mentale dans cette population à risque. Notre étude visait à évaluer l’état de santé mentale, la qualité de vie et les stratégies de coping auto-reportées des étudiants en santé pendant les premières semaines de la pandémie Covid-19. Un questionnaire en ligne de 128 items a été envoyé en avril 2020 à 17 673 étudiants en santé de l’Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 pour évaluer: a) les caractéristiques sociodémographiques, b) les conditions de confinement, c) les symptômes dépressifs (Beck De