Nowadays thousands of students choose to get into medical universities in foreign countries for a plethora of reasons. Tunisia represents one of these destinations, thanks to its geographic localization, weather, biological diversity as well as its ethnical and cultural background.

To determine the effect of anxiety and psychological distress on the motivation of studies in foreign students in Tunisia.

We conducted a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study, carried out between July and September 2023 among foreign students at the Sfax Faculty of Medicine. Data collection was carried out using an anonymous self-questionnaire via “Google Forms shared via social media. Psychological distress was assessed using the “DASS-21” Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale. Motivation was assessed using the French version of the “SMMS-R-FR” Study Motivational Strength Questionnaire.

Seventy-two foreign medical students completed the survey. The average age was 25 ± 3.45 years. The majority of students were male (57%). Coffee and tobacco were the most consumed substance by the students (88.9%, and 47.2% respectively). The mean score for score anxiety score was 6.59, 7.2 for depression and 7.83 for stress. The mean score for the strength of motivation was 42.4. We found a negative statistical association between the anxiety dimension and the strength of motivation (p=0.011, r= -0.29). We found no statistical association with the depressive symptoms dimension nor with the stress dimension.Smoking was correlated with anxiety and depression in our foreign students (p=0.02 and p=0.027 respectively).

Identifying psychological distress and screening for them can help prevent the deterioration of mental health of foreign students and therefore the deterioration their academic performance.

None Declared