Introduction:

The social isolation adopted in Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the use of remote classes as emergency changes in the teaching methods. In addition to the stressors inherent to the restriction of mobility and interpersonal contact, academic uncertainties generated by changes in the academic schedule, associated with a delay in clinical practice, may have represented risk factors for the development of mental disorders and worsening of the quality of life of students.

Objectives:

To assess the quality of life and mental health of medical students at a medical school during social isolation in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methodology:

This is a quantitative, cross-sectional and analytical study, which was conducted through a self-answered questionnaire that evaluated sociodemographic data, quality of life (WHOQOL-bref) and mental health (Goldberg’s GHQ-12) of medical students from UNIFENAS-BH from June to October 2020. A total of 565 students from all semesters of the course participated in the study. Descriptive and stratified analysis and Pearson’s correlation were performed using the Stata statistical package, version 11.1.

Results:

The students perceived their quality of life as good (64.3 ± 0.43), and the mean score was lower in the physical domain (52.22 ± 0.48) and higher in the social relations domain (68 .89 ± 0.79). The prevalence of common mental disorders was high (66.9%) and the worse the mental health, the worse the students’ quality of life (r -6126 - p=0.000). The factors that negatively impacted quality of life and mental health were: lower income, attending the basic cycle, being female and using self-reported medication. The support received from friends, relatives and classmates had a positive impact on quality of life. The perception of quality of life and mental health was better among students who answered in August/September/October when compared to those who answered in June/July.

Conclusions:

The assessed medical students showed a good perception of their quality of life, and a high prevalence of common mental disorders. The results show the need for qualitative studies to obtain further information about the impact of the pandemic on the students’ mental health.

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