Citation

Dyrbye LN, Schwartz A, Downing SM, Szydlo DW, Sloan JA, Shanafelt TD. Acad. Med. 2011; 86(7): 907-914.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Association of American Medical Colleges, Publisher Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/ACM.0b013e31821da615

PMID

21642810

Abstract

PURPOSE: To determine whether the Medical Student Well-Being Index (MSWBI) can serve as a brief assessment tool to identify medical students in severe psychological distress.
METHOD: The authors used data from 2,248 medical students at seven U.S. medical schools who responded to a 2007 survey to explore the accuracy of the MSWBI in identifying medical students with three outcomes: low mental quality of life (QOL; defined by having a Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form Health Survey mental component summary score ≥1/2 standard deviation below that of the age- and gender-matched population norm), suicidal ideation, or serious thoughts of dropping out. The authors confirmed their analyses using data from a separate sample of 2,682 students evaluated in 2009.
RESULTS: Students with low mental QOL, suicidal ideation, or serious thoughts of dropping out were more likely to endorse each individual MSWBI item and a greater number of total items than were students without such distress (all P <.001). The likelihood ratio for low mental QOL among students with MSWBI scores <4 was 0.47 as compared with 4.79 for those with scores ≥4. At an MSWBI threshold score of ≥4, the MSWBI's sensitivity and specificity for identifying students with low mental QOL or recent suicidal ideation/serious thoughts of dropping out were both ≥90%. On multivariable logistic regression, all MSWBI items were independently associated with at least one outcome.
CONCLUSIONS: The MSWBI is a useful brief screening tool to help identify students with severe distress.

Language: en

Keywords

Humans; United States; Adult; Female; Logistic Models; Male; Depression; Cohort Studies; Suicidal Ideation; Surveys and Questionnaires; Stress, Psychological; Sensitivity and Specificity; Students, Medical; Self-Assessment