Orientação sexual e identidade de gênero: a homossexualidade e seus reflexos na saúde mental de estudantes de medicina de uma universidade sergipana

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that more than 300 million people live with depression worldwide. Some specific groups seem to show a higher prevalence of this disease when compared to the general population, such as: medical students and the LGBT population. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to find out if there are repercussions in students' mental health according to their sexual orientation, to estimate the prevalence of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population in the medical course of the Federal University of Sergipe, in Aracaju, and to discover signs and signs of depression in the participants according to their sexual orientation. METHODS: A cross - sectional, quantitative, analytical study was carried out at the Federal University of Sergipe (UFS), in Aracaju, Sergipe, from April to August 2018, with medical students who signed the Free and Informed Consent Form and answered the four self - demographic, Beck Depression Inventory, Scale of Assessment of the Academic Environment Facing the Needs of the LGBT Population and the Scale of Perception of Social Support. Sample calculation for finite populations, with a sampling error of up to 5%, a 95% confidence level for an academic population of 581 students, estimated that 10% of them present some type of suffering related to their sexual orientation, finding a minimal sample of 231 participants, the sample, however, was of 310 students. The data were described by means of simple frequency and percentage when categorical or average and standard deviation when interval. Fisher's exact test was used to evaluate association between categorical variables. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Among the students studied, 181 (58.4%) were males and 129 (41.6%) were females (n = 129). Regarding sexual orientation, 237 (76.5%) identified as heterosexual, 46 (14.8%) as homosexual, 25 (8.1%) bisexual and 2 (0.6%) asexual. As for stratification of depression according to sexual orientation, among the heterosexuals, there were minimal levels of depression in 180 (75.9%) of the academics, 37 (15.6%) with mild depression, 20 (8.4%) with depression moderate and none with severe depression. In the LGBT group, there were minimal levels of depression, 40 (54.8%), mild depression (31.5%), moderate depression (12.3%) and depression severe (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Both groups presented high levels of perception of social support and lack of knowledge about specific public policies for this population. Given the results obtained, it is extremely important that there are discussions that address both themes, sexuality and mental health, aiming to offer psychosocial support to those who are suffering in both groups, however, with more focus in the group in which the higher rates of depression.