Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant disruption to global medical education, triggering a sharp increase in anxiety levels among students. This phenomenon was particularly severe in Indonesia due to existing systemic challenges. This literature review aims to synthesize evidence regarding the prevalence of anxiety and to systematically categorize its causal factors among Indonesian medical students during the crisis.
Methods: The method used is a narrative literature review. Literature search was conducted on Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus databases for relevant research articles, reports, and reviews published between 2020 and 2024, using keywords such as "anxiety", "medical students", "COVID-19", and "Indonesia".
Results: The results indicate a very high prevalence of anxiety in Indonesia (often >60%), a rate that consistently exceeds global and regional averages. Causal factors were classified into two domains. External factors include changes in the education system, socioeconomic and digital divides, lack of institutional support, and learning loss in clinical skills. Internal factors include health-related fears, gender vulnerability, mental health literacy, academic burnout, and the selection of coping strategies.
Conclusion: Anxiety among Indonesian medical students is a complex, multifactorial issue. Building a more resilient medical education system requires a combination of supportive institutional policies and programs to strengthen individual resilience to effectively address mental health challenges.