Relationship between Psychological Distress and Physical Activity among Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Medical studies are known to be a source of psychological distress and radical changes in medical students’ behaviors and attitudes. We carried out this study to assess the prevalence of psychological distress and physical activity among medical students in Morocco and to analyze the association between these two variables. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 855 Moroccan medical students. Physical activity and psychological distress were assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10), respectively. Regression analysis models were used to identify factors associated with psychological distress and the association between physical activity and psychological distress levels. The median age was 20 [19-21] years old, 55,1% of participants were women and 42,6% lived on the university campus. The prevalence of low physical activity levels was 25,1%, with 30,4% among women and 18,8% among men. The overall prevalence of psychological distress was 48,1% with a high level of 14,7%. Females were found to have higher levels of psychological distress compared to males (p< 0,001). Multivariate logistic regression showed that feminine (OR=1,49 [1,12-1,99]; p=0,007) and lower levels of physical activity (OR=2,98 [1,95;4,54]; p< 0,001) were significantly associated with psychological distress. Psychological distress and low physical activity appear to have increased in Moroccan medical students. These results underlined the importance of promoting physical activity as an effective strategy to reduce and prevent psychological distress.