Limitation:
This study focused on the psychological impact of COVID-19 and its
related quarantine on medical students in Syria. The sample size in this
study was small compared with other population-based cross-sectional
studies due to the restriction of the population. Depending on online
forms would exclude individuals with limited access to the internet.
However, online questionnaires proved to be an effective method to reach
a large population in many studies in Syria (14, 18, 19). In addition,
the effect of quarantine on mental health could not be isolated from the
impact of the war and other social and economic factors. Responses were
based on self-reporting tools that might be influenced by subjects’
misconception of their own condition. Socio-economic status (SES) could
not be assessed as it is hard to standardize salaries and there are no
valid methods to determine SES in Syria, specially that it is
inappropriate to ask directly about the salary (18). Also, we could not
conclude a causal association depending on the results of a
cross-sectional study design. Future large prospective studies using
objective assessment methods would provide more conclusive results.