Introduction: Sudan war was started in April 2023, resulted in displacement of more than 10 million people and negatively impacted the psychological status of Sudanese population. This study aimed to determine the effect of war on the psychological status of Alzaeim Alazhari university (AAU) medical students. Methodology: Descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on a purposive convenience sample of 201 medical students. DASS 21 score was used to measure depression, anxiety, and stress disorders among medical students. Frequency tables, Chi-squared (χ2) tests and binary logistic regression analysis were used to identify the determinants of depression, anxiety and stress among medical students surveyed. All statistical tests were considered significant when p-value< 0.05. Results: More than half of the participants (56.7%) were females, aged 24 years or older (53.2%). Regarding the places to which participants were displaced due to the war, out of 181 participants (49.7%) reported that they were displaced to other cities in Sudan, while the remaining (50.3%) were displaced outside the country. Based on DASS-21 score, significant prevalence of depression (67.6%), anxiety (58.2%), and stress (53.2%) were identified among the participants. Gender (p value=0.001) and place of displacement (p value=0.007) were found to be strong determinants of depression. Females were 11.2 times more likely to exhibit depression, 14.4 times to suffer from anxiety and 12.9 times to have stress than males. Displacement outside Sudan affects the probability of developing depression by 7.3 times and stress by 4.7 times. Displacement to another city in Sudan found to affect the probability of exposure to stress by 4.3 times, Conclusion: War and displacement resulted in a high prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among medical students. Females were more likely to experience depression and anxiety. Displacement and effects on the economic status play an important role in the deterioration of the psychological status. Efforts must be directed to decrease the burden of war on the medical students including psychological and financial support. Updated medical schools’ curricula in Sudan as a coping strategy to suit the new situation after war are recommended.
Published in | International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences (Volume 9, Issue 4) |
DOI | 10.11648/j.ijpbs.20240904.11 |
Page(s) | 45-52 |
Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Psychological, Impact, War, Medical Students, Depression, Anxiety, Stress Disorder, Displacement, Sudan
[1] | Abdulhamid SM, Almokdad FK, Ahmed RJ, Elbashir RM, Suleiman YAA: Psychological status of medical students and interns in the wake of the armed conflict of April 2023 in Sudan. A cross-sectional study. medRxiv 2024: 2024. 2002. 2027.24303455. |
[2] |
Migration IOf. DTM Sudan's Internally Displaced Persons 2023 Estimates | Displacement Tracking 524 Matrix 2024. Cited on 5.10.2024. Available at:
https://dtm.iom.int/reports/dtm-sudans-internally-displaced-persons-2024 |
[3] |
Crisis in Sudan: What is happening and how to help, Last updated: August 20, 2024, Cited on 5.10.2024. Available at:
https://www.rescue.org/article/crisis-sudan-what-happening-and-how-help |
[4] | Mahgoub EA, Khairy A, Osman S, Haga MB, Osman SH, Abbu Hassan AM, Kamal H, Babiker A. War and education: the attacks on medical schools amidst ongoing armed conflict, Sudan 2023. Conflict and health. 2024 Mar 29; 18(1): 23. |
[5] | List of universities in Sudan (2024) Wikipedia. Cited on: 1.10.2024. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_universities_in_Sudan |
[6] | Alzaiem Alazhari university, Cited on: 1.10.2024. Available at: |
[7] | Sudan Federal Ministry of Health complains about the increasing number of medical colleges (2022) Sudan news. Cited on: 1.10.2024. Available at: |
[8] | Musisi S, Kinyanda E. Long-term impact of war, civil war, and persecution in civilian populations—Conflict and post-traumatic stress in African communities. Frontiers in psychiatry. 2020 Feb 25; 11: 20. |
[9] | Takoutsing BD, Găman MA, Puyana JC, Bonilla-Escobar FJ. The Silent Casualties: War's Impact on Medical Students and Medical Education. International Journal of Medical Students. 2023 Dec 21; 11(4): 254-8. |
[10] | Al Saadi T, Zaher Addeen S, Turk T, Abbas F, Alkhatib M. Psychological distress among medical students in conflicts: a cross-sectional study from Syria. BMC medical education. 2017 Dec; 17: 1-8. |
[11] | Khan AW, Singh J, Imran M. Psychological Distress Among Medical Students of Conflict Zones: A Cross-Sectional Study From The Kashmir Valley. JK Practitioner. 2021 Apr 1; 26(2). |
[12] | Mohsen F, Latifa Y, Sawaf B. War-related trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder prevalence among Syrian university students. BJPsych Open. 2021 Jun; 7(S1): S43-S43. |
[13] | Greshta V, Shylo S, Korolkov V, Kulykovskyi R, Kapliienko O. Universities in times of war: Challenges and solutions for ensuring the educational process. Problems and Perspectives in Management. 2023; 21(2): 80. |
[14] | Lovibond SH, Lovibond PF. Depression anxiety stress scales. Psychological Assessment. 1996. |
[15] | Xu W, Pavlova I, Chen X, Petrytsa P, Graf-Vlachy L, Zhang SX. Mental health symptoms and coping strategies among Ukrainians during the Russia-Ukraine war in March 2022. International journal of social psychiatry. 2023 Jun; 69(4): 957-66. |
[16] | Elhadi M, Buzreg A, Bouhuwaish A, Khaled A, Alhadi A, Msherghi A, Alsoufi A, Alameen H, Biala M, Elgherwi A, Elkhafeefi F. Psychological impact of the civil war and COVID-19 on Libyan medical students: a cross-sectional study. Frontiers in psychology. 2020 Oct 26; 11: 570435. |
[17] | Kurapov A, Pavlenko V, Drozdov A, Bezliudna V, Reznik A, Isralowitz R. Toward an understanding of the Russian-Ukrainian war impact on university students and personnel. Journal of Loss and Trauma. 2023 Feb 17; 28(2): 167-74. |
[18] | Kakaje A, Al Zohbi R, Hosam Aldeen O, Makki L, Alyousbashi A, Alhaffar MB. Mental disorder and PTSD in Syria during wartime: a nationwide crisis. BMC psychiatry. 2021 Dec; 21: 1-6. |
APA Style
Abdelgadir, H. S., Mohamed, L. L., Babiker, L. M., Ahmed, L. S., Abdelgadir, H. S., et al. (2024). Psychological Impact of War on Medical Students at Alzaeim Alazhari University, Khartoum/ Sudan 2024. International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences, 9(4), 45-52. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijpbs.20240904.11
ACS Style
Abdelgadir, H. S.; Mohamed, L. L.; Babiker, L. M.; Ahmed, L. S.; Abdelgadir, H. S., et al. Psychological Impact of War on Medical Students at Alzaeim Alazhari University, Khartoum/ Sudan 2024. Int. J. Psychol. Brain Sci. 2024, 9(4), 45-52. doi: 10.11648/j.ijpbs.20240904.11
@article{10.11648/j.ijpbs.20240904.11, author = {Hiba Salah Abdelgadir and Leena Lotfi Mohamed and Lina Moawia Babiker and Leena Sayed Ahmed and Hind Salah Abdelgadir and Mosab Abdelgader Ahmed}, title = {Psychological Impact of War on Medical Students at Alzaeim Alazhari University, Khartoum/ Sudan 2024 }, journal = {International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences}, volume = {9}, number = {4}, pages = {45-52}, doi = {10.11648/j.ijpbs.20240904.11}, url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijpbs.20240904.11}, eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijpbs.20240904.11}, abstract = {Introduction: Sudan war was started in April 2023, resulted in displacement of more than 10 million people and negatively impacted the psychological status of Sudanese population. This study aimed to determine the effect of war on the psychological status of Alzaeim Alazhari university (AAU) medical students. Methodology: Descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on a purposive convenience sample of 201 medical students. DASS 21 score was used to measure depression, anxiety, and stress disorders among medical students. Frequency tables, Chi-squared (χ2) tests and binary logistic regression analysis were used to identify the determinants of depression, anxiety and stress among medical students surveyed. All statistical tests were considered significant when p-value Results: More than half of the participants (56.7%) were females, aged 24 years or older (53.2%). Regarding the places to which participants were displaced due to the war, out of 181 participants (49.7%) reported that they were displaced to other cities in Sudan, while the remaining (50.3%) were displaced outside the country. Based on DASS-21 score, significant prevalence of depression (67.6%), anxiety (58.2%), and stress (53.2%) were identified among the participants. Gender (p value=0.001) and place of displacement (p value=0.007) were found to be strong determinants of depression. Females were 11.2 times more likely to exhibit depression, 14.4 times to suffer from anxiety and 12.9 times to have stress than males. Displacement outside Sudan affects the probability of developing depression by 7.3 times and stress by 4.7 times. Displacement to another city in Sudan found to affect the probability of exposure to stress by 4.3 times, Conclusion: War and displacement resulted in a high prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among medical students. Females were more likely to experience depression and anxiety. Displacement and effects on the economic status play an important role in the deterioration of the psychological status. Efforts must be directed to decrease the burden of war on the medical students including psychological and financial support. Updated medical schools’ curricula in Sudan as a coping strategy to suit the new situation after war are recommended. }, year = {2024} }
TY - JOUR T1 - Psychological Impact of War on Medical Students at Alzaeim Alazhari University, Khartoum/ Sudan 2024 AU - Hiba Salah Abdelgadir AU - Leena Lotfi Mohamed AU - Lina Moawia Babiker AU - Leena Sayed Ahmed AU - Hind Salah Abdelgadir AU - Mosab Abdelgader Ahmed Y1 - 2024/11/26 PY - 2024 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijpbs.20240904.11 DO - 10.11648/j.ijpbs.20240904.11 T2 - International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences JF - International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences JO - International Journal of Psychological and Brain Sciences SP - 45 EP - 52 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2575-1573 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijpbs.20240904.11 AB - Introduction: Sudan war was started in April 2023, resulted in displacement of more than 10 million people and negatively impacted the psychological status of Sudanese population. This study aimed to determine the effect of war on the psychological status of Alzaeim Alazhari university (AAU) medical students. Methodology: Descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on a purposive convenience sample of 201 medical students. DASS 21 score was used to measure depression, anxiety, and stress disorders among medical students. Frequency tables, Chi-squared (χ2) tests and binary logistic regression analysis were used to identify the determinants of depression, anxiety and stress among medical students surveyed. All statistical tests were considered significant when p-value Results: More than half of the participants (56.7%) were females, aged 24 years or older (53.2%). Regarding the places to which participants were displaced due to the war, out of 181 participants (49.7%) reported that they were displaced to other cities in Sudan, while the remaining (50.3%) were displaced outside the country. Based on DASS-21 score, significant prevalence of depression (67.6%), anxiety (58.2%), and stress (53.2%) were identified among the participants. Gender (p value=0.001) and place of displacement (p value=0.007) were found to be strong determinants of depression. Females were 11.2 times more likely to exhibit depression, 14.4 times to suffer from anxiety and 12.9 times to have stress than males. Displacement outside Sudan affects the probability of developing depression by 7.3 times and stress by 4.7 times. Displacement to another city in Sudan found to affect the probability of exposure to stress by 4.3 times, Conclusion: War and displacement resulted in a high prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among medical students. Females were more likely to experience depression and anxiety. Displacement and effects on the economic status play an important role in the deterioration of the psychological status. Efforts must be directed to decrease the burden of war on the medical students including psychological and financial support. Updated medical schools’ curricula in Sudan as a coping strategy to suit the new situation after war are recommended. VL - 9 IS - 4 ER -