Psychological distress and tension-type headache among health professional senior students in a historically black university in south africa.

Abstract

Studies in well-defined populations contribute to the body ofevidence that the psychosocial aspects of people’s environment can have a substantial effect on their physical health. Senior students in health professional education programs were interviewed using structured instruments to assess the prevalence of psychological distress and tension-type headaches in a young adult university population.  Almost 70%of the study sample was either at risk of becoming distressed, or already distressed with somatic or depressive symptoms. About two-thirds of thestudents reported symptoms of either tension-type headache or other typesof headache, while over 30% of all the students complained of tension-type headache. Almost 20% of the students whoreported symptoms of tension-type headache were also distressed, while another 47% were at risk of being distressed.The possible impact on the academic performance of the students and their future role as health care professionalsis discussed.