Hidden Scars: Prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) among medical students at the University of Khartoum, Sudan

BackgroundAdverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are widespread and have detrimental long-term effects in many aspects including physical and mental health, education and employment. Medical students are presumed to have had high rates of exposure and suffer consequences that might hinder their progression in undergraduate or postgraduate level. ObjectiveThe study aimed to determine the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences among different sociodemographic groups of medical students and elicit outcomes in self-perceived physical and mental health. MethodsThis was a descriptive cross sectional study, carried out among 326 medical students selected by stratified and systematic random sampling, using online self-administered questionnaire (ACE-IQ), The data was analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS), Pearson chi-square test was performed to measure associations and binary logistic regression to determine the significance and odds that a student exposed to childhood trauma or ACEs is likely to report negative effects on their physical health as well as mental health. Results81.9% of students reported at least one ACE and 23.9% reported > 4. Male gender, age group 18-21, medical students raised in a rural setting, and low family income sociodemographic groups demonstrated higher prevalence. The study noted a significant association between rising ACE scores and expressing negative effects on mental health (OR: 1.359, p value: .000, 95% CI:1.195-1.546) and Physical health (OR: 1.177, p value: 0.01, 95% CI: 1.040-1.333). ConclusionsACEs are highly prevalent among medical students, with 4 out of every 5 students being exposed and only one being unexposed. In addition, increasing exposure to adversity was associated with negative effects on physical and mental health in a graded exposure-effect manner.