Risk indicators of depression among medical, dental, nursing, pharmacology, and other medical science students in Saudi Arabia

Levels of depression, anxiety and subjective happiness among health sciences students in Croatia: a multi-centric cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Previous studies have shown that symptoms of depression and anxiety were highly prevalent among health sciences students. This may lead to other professional and personal difficulties and a decrease in individuals' well-being. This study aimed to analyze levels of depression, anxiety and subjective happiness among health sciences students in Croatia.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional study in 10 higher education institutions in Croatia during March 2023. Eligible participants were health sciences students. Participants filled out an online survey consisting of sociodemographic questions and validated scales for determining the levels of depression (9-question Patient Health Questionnaire, PHQ-9), anxiety (General Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale, GAD-7), and happiness (Subjective Happiness Scale, SHS).

RESULTS

Of 7460 invited students, 2137 students participated in the study (29% response rate). There were 41.4% of students that exhibited at least mild depressive symptoms, with 8% of students exhibiting moderately severe symptoms and 1.8% severe depressive symptoms. Mild anxiety was found in 36.8%, moderate anxiety in 23.9% and severe anxiety in 15.8% of students. The median SHS score was 19 (15.25-22). Women students had significantly higher levels of depression (p < 0.001) and anxiety (p < 0.001) than their men peers. Students in earlier study years showed higher levels of depression, anxiety and lower levels of subjective happiness compared to those in later study years. Students with lower self-assessed financial status had higher levels of depression (p < 0.001) and anxiety (p < 0.001). Students that failed an academic year had higher levels of depression (p < 0.001), but lower levels of anxiety (p = 0.005).

CONCLUSION

In this study, we have shown that health sciences students exhibit high levels of depression and anxiety, at rates exceeding those in the general population reported in other studies. Our results may help educational institutions to put greater effort into the battle against mental health stigma, foster acceptance of mental health issues and encourage students to seek help when needed. Adequate mental health services are needed at universities to promote timely diagnosis and treatment of mental health problems.

Depression among medical students in Tunisia: Prevalence and associated factors

BACKGROUND

Medical school is known for its lengthy process, which is both physically and emotionally draining. Students' mental balance would shrink as they progress in their medical training. A systematic review and meta-analysis reported that the prevalence of depressive symptoms among medical students remained relatively constant at 27.2%.

AIM

To assess the prevalence of depressive symptoms among Tunisian medical students and evaluate its associated factors.

METHODS

This is a descriptive cross-sectional study that was carried out in the second semester of the academic year 2017/2018, between April 2018 and July 2018 among 1138 medical students. Data were collected using a socio-demographic questionnaire and the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II).

RESULTS

Sixty-four percent (n = 728) of the participants had depressive symptoms, of which 266 (23.4%) met the criteria for mild, 271 (23.8%) for moderate, and 191 (16.8%) for severe depressive symptoms. Female gender, low socio-economic level, smoking habits and history of mental disorder, performing leisure and physical activities, satisfaction toward a career choice, and happiness perception were the main prognostic factors for depression among medical students. Although academic grades may not be considered a prognostic factor, final-year students appeared to be less depressive than their colleagues.

CONCLUSION

These findings give insight into mental health issues and comorbidities among Tunisian medical students. It is a hopeful request for decision-makers and academic authorities to set serious measures and draw effective interventions to minimize the currency of psychological distress among this subpopulation.

Depression Among University Students in Jordan After the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background

University students encounter stressors that make them more susceptible to depression than the general population. Depression negatively impacts mental and physical health. Our study assessed the prevalence of depression among university students in Jordan and its associated predictors after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

We conducted this cross-sectional online survey study in the first quarter of 2022 by sending an online questionnaire to university students aged 18 years and older. This study assessed the symptoms of depression using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify associated predictors of depression.

Results

A total of 535 university students participated in this study. The mean depression score for the study participants was 13.9 (SD: 7.1) out of 27, representing a moderate level of depression. Among the participants, 26.2% had moderate, 19.3% had moderately severe, and 25.8% had severe depression. Students who drink three or more cups of coffee per day, have had an evaluation of their psychological state by specialists before, and have been diagnosed with any mental illness were more likely to have a higher depression score compared to others (p<0.05). On the other hand, students who were aged 24 years and older and those who practiced regular exercise were less likely to have a higher depression score compared to others (p<0.05).

Conclusion

We found a high prevalence of depression among university students in Jordan. This result is vital for decision-makers to implement a plan to prevent and manage this mental health issue.

Prevalence and incidence of depressive symptoms in pharmacy students: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Pharmacy students are at high risk of developing depressive symptoms that can adversely influence their professional future. However, there are no summarized data on the subject.

OBJECTIVE

To summarize the prevalence and incidence of depressive symptoms in pharmacy students.

METHODS

A literature search was performed using PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, LILACS, and SCOPUS databases until January 2022. We included observational studies that assessed the prevalence or incidence of depressive symptoms among pharmacy students using a validated screening instrument. Two independent investigators performed the study selection, data extraction, and quality assessment using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) checklist for prevalence studies. The estimate of depressive symptoms was summarized as a narrative synthesis using structured tables.

RESULTS

Of the 695 records retrieved in the search, 19 studies met the eligibility criteria. All were cross-sectional studies, published between 2009 and 2022. The number of pharmacy students ranged from 30 to 610. Most studies were conducted in Asia (n = 9) and the Americas (n = 7), and included only public university students (n = 12). The studies used several instruments to screen students for depressive symptoms, mainly Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (n = 7), Beck Depression Inventory (n = 5), and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale 21 (n = 4). Most studies (n = 15) evaluated only the prevalence of depressive symptoms. The estimate of overall, mild, moderate, and severe depressive symptoms ranged from 4.8% to 78.8%, 9.1% to 42.1%, 5.8% to 30.0%, and 0% to 50.0%, respectively. Regarding methodological quality, the score ranged from 4 to 7 out of 9 points according to the JBI checklist.

CONCLUSION

A high proportion of depressive symptoms were observed in pharmacy students. This finding points to the urgent need to develop strategies for screening, early identification of symptoms, and intervention to improve the mental health of students.

Depression, stress, anxiety and burnout among undergraduate and postgraduate medical trainees in Saudi Arabia over two decades: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Evidence suggests physicians have higher rates of mental distress than other professionals. Although multiple studies have been conducted among Saudi medical trainees to address this issue, no reviews assessed multiple psychological problems simultaneously. We aimed to examine the prevalence and trends of depression, anxiety, burnout and stress among Saudi medical trainees.

METHODS

A systematic review was conducted searching PubMed/Medline, OVID, Scopus, PsychInfo, EBSCOhost and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) for studies addressing depression, burnout, stress and anxiety among Saudi medical trainees, in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA). Joanna Briggs Critical Appraisal Checklist was used to evaluate quality. The main findings were summarised in tables.

RESULTS

We identified 57 records from 2001 to 2020. Overall (mild, moderate or severe) depression ranged from 28% to 70.6%, while stress ranged from 30.5% to 90.7%. Burnout was primarily assessed among residents with an overall prevalence reaching 85.5%. Overall anxiety ranged from 52.7% to 67%, and was only assessed among undergraduates. Higher levels of all four mental conditions were reported among females.

CONCLUSION

This review suggests high prevalence of depression, stress, burnout and anxiety among medical trainees, with higher estimates for females compared to males.

Disaster preparedness in healthcare professionals amid COVID-19 and beyond: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials

BACKGROUND

Disasters like COVID-19 are oftentimes inevitable, which makes disaster preparedness indispensable to global health and social stability. However, there is a dearth of understanding of how well healthcare professionals, who often have to work at the epicenter of disasters as they evolve, are trained to be sufficiently prepared for these crises. To this end, this study aims to examine the characteristics and effectiveness of existing interventions that aim to improve healthcare professionals' disaster preparedness.

METHODS

We searched RCTs that aim to improve healthcare professionals' disaster preparedness in databases including PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL and Scopus. Results were screened against the eligibility criteria. The review was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42020192517) and conducted following the PRISMA guidelines.

RESULTS

A total of 7382 articles were screened for eligibility, among which, 27 RCTs, incorporating 35,145, met the inclusion criteria. Review results show that most of the eligible RCTs were conducted in high-income countries. Only two RCTs were developed in disaster contexts that share similarities with COVID-19. Most of the interventions did not address critical disaster coping abilities, such as how can healthcare professionals protect or improve their personal or the general public's mental health amid pandemics. Furthermore, almost half of the disaster preparedness RCTs failed to generate statistically significant outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

Albeit inevitable, disasters are preventable. Our study results underscore the imperative of designing and developing effective and comprehensive interventions that could boost healthcare professionals' disaster preparedness, so that these frontline workers can better protect personal and public health amid global crises like COVID-19.

Anxiety, Depression, Self-Esteem, Internet Addiction and Predictors of Cyberbullying and Cybervictimization among Female Nursing University Students: A Cross Sectional Study

BACKGROUND

Cyberbullying and cybervictimization, which have been linked to the growth of the Internet and issues with mental health, can have serious psychological and academic consequences for young individuals, yet they have received relatively little scientific attention at universities. These phenomena have become an alarming social issue due to their rising rate and devastating physical and psychological effects on undergraduate university students.

AIM

to estimate the prevalence of depression, low self-esteem, cybervictimization, anxiety, cyberbullying, and Internet addiction among Saudi female nursing university students and to identify the factors that predict cybervictimization and cyberbullying.

METHODS

Convenience sampling was used to select 179 female nursing university students with an average age of 20.80 ± 1.62 years for the purpose of conducting a descriptive cross-sectional study.

RESULTS

The percentage of students who reported having low self-esteem was 19.55%, depression (30.17%), Internet addiction (49.16%), anxiety (34.64%), cyberbullying (20.67%), and cybervictimization (17.32%). There was an inverse relationship between students' self-esteem and their risk of engaging in cyberbullying (AOR = 0.782, 95% CI: 0.830-0.950, p = 0.002) or becoming cybervictims (AOR = 0.840, 95% CI: 0.810-0.920, p < 0.001). Further, Internet addiction predicted both cyberbullying (AOR = 1.028, 95% CI: 1.012-1.049, p = 0.003) and cybervictimization (AOR = 1.027, 95% CI: 1.010-1.042, p < 0.001). The likelihood of experiencing anxiety was linked to cyberbullying (AOR = 1.047, 95% CI: 1.031-1.139, p < 0.001) and cybervictimization (AOR = 1.042, 95% CI: 1.030-1.066, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Importantly, the findings suggest that programs designed to help university students avoid participating in cyberbullying activities or becoming cybervictims should take into account the influence of Internet addiction, mental health issues, and self-esteem.

Factors contributing to depressive symptoms among undergraduate nursing students: A cross-sectional study

AIM

To investigate predictive factors of student's academic year, interest in the field of nursing, stress, self-efficacy, and problem-focused and emotion-focused coping on the depressive symptoms among undergraduate nursing students.

BACKGROUND

As the burden of depression among students has increased worldwide, depressive symptoms have become a standard part of mental health problems in college and university students. Among the various fields of medical sciences, nursing students face more stressors during their study period and are more at risk of suffering depressive symptoms than other students.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional design.

METHODS

A total of 230 undergraduate nursing students from a university in Myanmar were recruited from August to September 2021. The data were collected using standard research instruments, including a Demographic Questionnaire, Student Nurse Stress Index Questionnaire, General Self-efficacy Scale, Brief COPE Inventory, and Center for Epidemiology Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Descriptive statistics were used to describe the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants. Inferential statistics were used to identify the predictive effect of academic year, interest in the field of nursing, stress, self-efficacy, problem-focused coping, and emotion-focused coping on depressive symptoms, using multiple linear regression analysis.

RESULTS

Academic year, interest in the field of nursing, stress, self-efficacy, and problem-focused and emotion-focused coping accounted for 31.5% of the variance of depressive symptoms (F(8, 221) = 12.704, p < .001) with an R² = .315. Stress was the factor that most influenced student's depressive symptoms (β = .407, p < .001). Self-efficacy (β = -.244, p < .001) and emotion-focused coping (β = .199, p < .05) were also critical factors contributing to depressive symptoms among undergraduate nursing students.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study provide insight and knowledge about depressive symptoms and factors that can contribute to depressive symptoms among undergraduate nursing students. Results suggest that nurse educators and community mental health nurses should focus on reducing stress, increasing self-efficacy, and enhancing proper coping strategies among students to prevent depressive symptoms.

Hypertension and depression among medical students: is there an association?

Introduction

Several studies suggested a higher prevalence of hypertension and depression among medical students. Patients with depression have a higher prevalence of hypertension and vice versa. In this study, we assessed the frequency of hypertension and depression in a sample of medical students and the impact of depression on hypertension.

Methods

We recruited medical students from the largest medical school in Jordan. For each participant, we measured blood pressure and heart rate under standardized measurement conditions. Participants were also surveyed using the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). We performed univariate analysis followed by linear regression analysis of factors affecting mean arterial pressure.

Results

354 medical students were included. The mean age was 21 years. 196 (55.4%) were females and 158 (44.6%) were males. 139 (70.9%) of females had normal blood pressure (BP), 7 (3.6%) had elevated BP, 44 (22.4%) had stage 1 hypertension (HTN), and 6 (3.1%) had stage 2 HTN. Within males: 60 (38.0%) had normal BP, 27 (17.1%) had elevated BP, 55 (34.8%) had stage 1 HTN, and 16 (10.1%) had stage 2 HTN. 114 participants (32.2%) had no or minimal depression, 197 (55.6%) had mild-moderate depression and 43 (12.1%) had moderately severe-severe depression. There was an association between higher depression scores and higher diastolic blood pressure.

Conclusion

The frequency of hypertension and depression was notably high in our sample. There was an association between higher depression scores and higher diastolic blood pressure. We strongly believe that this association should encourage us again to screen our hypertensive patients in general for depression and vice versa. We also recommend adopting screening programs for depression and hypertension in general.

Mental health in medical, dental and pharmacy students: A cross-sectional study

Background

The mental health of health students is considered a public health issue which increased dramatically with the COVID 19’s pandemic. Few studies have assessed the prevalence of depression in medical, pharmacy, and dental students. Our goal was to assess mental health in health students from the same university and identify the associated factors.

Methods

An online survey was sent to the health students of the University of Paris in 3 specialties (medicine, pharmacy, and dentistry). We used the Hospitalization Anxiety and Depression scale, the Composite International Diagnostic Interview-Short Form and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (with 2 versions: the Human Services Survey for clinical students and residents and the Student survey for the others). The presence of suicidal ideation, humiliation, sexual harassment, and sexual aggression over twelve-months was also measured. We performed multivariable logistic regression analyses to identify the associated factors of Major Depressive Episodes (MDE).

Findings

1925 students answered the survey. The overall prevalence of 7-day anxiety and depressive symptoms, MDE, suicidal ideation, humiliation, sexual harassment, and sexual aggression were 55%, 23%, 26%, 19%, 19%, 22%, and 5.5%, respectively. Burnout was present in 42% of nonclinical students and 65% of clinical students and residents. Multivariable logistic regression identified several associated factors of MDE: moderate (OR = 1.49,CI95[1.17-1.90]) or major (OR = 2.32,CI95[1.68-3.20]) subjective financial difficulties, humiliation (OR = 1.71,CI95[1.28-2.28]), sexual abuse (OR = 1.65,CI95[1.04-2.60]), and sexual harassment (OR = 1.60,CI95[1.19-2.16]).

Interpretation

This is one of the largest studies comparing dental, pharmacy and medical students from the same university. We found elevated prevalences of psychiatric symptoms with variation depending on specialty.

Influencing factors, prediction and prevention of depression in college students: A literature review

The high prevalence of depression among college students has a strong negative impact on individual physical and mental health, academic development, and interpersonal communication. This paper reviewed the extant literature by identifying nonpathological factors related to college students' depression, investigating the methods of predicting depression, and exploring nonpharmaceutical interventions for college students' depression. The influencing factors of college students' depression mainly fell into four categories: biological factors, personality and psychological state, college experience, and lifestyle. The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 has exacerbated the severity of depression among college students worldwide and poses grave challenges to the prevention and treatment of depression, given that the coronavirus has spread quickly with high infection rates, and the pandemic has changed the daily routines of college life. To predict and measure mental health, more advanced methods, such as machine algorithms and artificial intelligence, have emerged in recent years apart from the traditional commonly used psychological scales. Regarding nonpharmaceutical prevention measures, both general measures and professional measures for the prevention and treatment of college students' depression were examined in this study. Students who experience depressive disorders need family support and personalized interventions at college, which should also be supplemented by professional interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapy and online therapy. Through this literature review, we insist that the technology of identification, prediction, and prevention of depression among college students based on big data platforms will be extensively used in the future. Higher education institutions should understand the potential risk factors related to college students' depression and make more accurate screening and prevention available with the help of advanced technologies.

Academic and non-academic life stressors and their impact on psychological wellbeing of medical students

Objectives

Among medical students, depression, anxiety, and stress (DAS) are key public wellbeing challenges that require epidemiological research. We aimed to evaluate potential sources of these psychological disturbances and assess the contribution of academic and non-academic life stressors in psychological morbidity among medical students.

Methods

This exploratory questionnaire-based survey was conducted in a Saudi Arabian public sector medical college. A total of 231 medical students were enrolled and completed the depression, anxiety, and stress scale-21 (DASS-21) questionnaire.

Results

More than half of the medical students, 129 (55.8%), had depression, 106 (45.9%) students had anxiety, and 87 (37.7%) students had stress. Academic achievement was the largest explanatory factor for depression and stress, whereas bodily appearance constituted the largest explanatory factor of anxiety among the study sample. Academic and non-academic stressors score was significantly associated with depression (adjusted Odds Ratio, aOR = 1.13, 95% CI 1.07–1.19), anxiety (aOR = 1.07, 95% CI 1.03–1.12), and stress (aOR = 1.12, 95% CI 1.08–1.17).

Conclusions

Medical students have a high incidence of negative emotional states. These negative psychological states were explained by academic achievement and bodily appearance. The studied stressors influenced medical students' psychological wellbeing.

Self-reported mental health symptoms, quality of life and coping strategies in French health sciences students during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic: An online survey

Introduction

Health sciences students usually report high rates of mental health problems. The COVID-19 pandemic context may have serious psychological impacts in this at-risk population. We aimed to assess the self-reported mental health status, health-related quality of life and coping strategies of health sciences students during the early stage of the pandemic.

Method

An online 128-item questionnaire sent to 17,673 health sciences students from the Claude Bernard University Lyon 1 in April 2020 assessed: a) sociodemographic characteristics, b) conditions of lockdown, c) depressive (Beck Depression Inventory- Short Form, BDI-SF), anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-A, STAI-A) and traumatic symptoms (Impact of Event Scale -Revised, IES-R), d) health-related quality of life (SF12) and e) coping strategies (Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced, Brief COPE).

Results

The participation rate was 9.9% (n = 1,765). A total of 19.5% of participants reported an IES-R > 33, 11.6% depressive symptoms, 58.1% anxiety symptoms, and 4.4% suicidal ideation. Their mental health-related quality of life was significantly poorer than for physical health. Female gender, COVID-like symptoms, social isolation due to the lockdown, pandemic-related financial restraint and exams-related stress were significantly associated with poorer self-reported mental health conditions. Volunteering in the healthcare system was significantly associated with lower mental health scores. Coping strategies were mostly oriented toward avoidance and positive appraisal.

Conclusion

French health sciences students exhibited high levels of self-reported mental health problems and a poor mental health-related quality of life during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specific risk factors related to the pandemic partly explain the observed prevalence.

Prevalence of Fibromyalgia in Pharmacy Professionals and Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background

The prevalence of fibromyalgia (FM) in pharmacy students and professionals is unknown. This study identifies the prevalence of FM in pharmacy students and professionals using three screening tools and factors associated with its development. Furthermore, this study assesses the level of agreement between the tools and the magnitude of the participants’ responses to each item in the screening tools.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional survey conducted on members of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society using an online questionnaire. The participants were asked to fill three questionnaires: the London Fibromyalgia Epidemiology Study Screening Questionnaire (LFESSQ), Fibromyalgia Rapid Screening Tool (FiRST) and Fibromyalgia Survey Questionnaire (FSQ). Demographic data and factors affecting FM in pharmacy students and professionals were collected and analysed.

Results

Two hundred ninety-three participants accessed the survey: most of them were Saudi (93.5%) and females (78.8%) with a mean (standard deviation) age of 29 (8) years. Furthermore, 52% of the participants had generalised body pain. The prevalence of FM using FiRST, LFESSQ Pain, LFESSQ with fatigue criteria and FSQ was 27.1%, 34.9%, 50.9% and 68.4%, respectively. Fleiss’ kappa coefficient revealed fair agreement among all three screening tools (kappa = 0.350; p < 0.001). After adjusting for significant variables, the resulting adjusted odds ratio of developing FM was 4.86 in people working for 41–45 h weekly (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.32–17.84; p = 0.017), 5.16 in people who frequently wake up during sleep (95% CI, 1.85–14.40; p = 0.002) and 12.99 in people with sleep apnea or other sleeping disorders (95% CI, 2.07–81.68; p = 0.006).

Conclusion

FM was prevalent among pharmacy students and professionals and was much more than data reported on the general population or other healthcare workers. Traditional factors along with higher working hours were identified as significant variables.

Self-reported depressive symptoms in dental students: Systematic review with meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to systematically review the literature about the prevalence of self-reported depressive symptoms in dental students.

METHODS

PUBMED, SCOPUS, and EMBASE databases were search up to January 2020 with the following focused questions: "What is the prevalence of self-reported depression symptom in dental students?" and "Are sex and years of educational training associated with self-reported depressive symptom in dental students?". Observational studies that applied a questionnaire assessing depression were eligible. Standard mean differences (SMD) and pooled odds ratios (OR) were calculated for the questionnaires' scores and self-reported depressive symptom, respectively.

RESULTS

Fifty-eight studies were included, and 15 different questionnaires were used. The prevalence of self-reported depressive symptoms/at least mild depression ranged from 2.75% to 89.84%, and the pooled overall prevalence was 29% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 26-34). Meta-analysis showed significantly lower scores in the questionnaires for self-reported depressive symptoms of male students (SMD: -0.22; 95% CI: -0.42 - -0.03). Conversely, no significant difference was detected for the OR of self-reported depressive symptom in the comparison between sex (OR: 1.11 - 95% CI: 0.77-1.62). Similarly, no significant difference was observed for the different school years regardless of the analytical strategy used.

CONCLUSION

It was concluded that female dental students presented more self-reported depressive symptoms, but no difference is demonstrated during the years of dental education.

Comparison of prevalence of depression among medical, dental, and engineering students in Patna using Beck's Depression Inventory II: A cross-sectional study

Background:

Depression, a multi-dimensional disorder adversely affects the interpersonal, social and occupational spheres of students’ life. It is the 11^th leading cause of global disease burden.

Aims and Objectives:

To assess the prevalence of depressive symptoms among various professional course students including medical, dental, and engineering students in Patna, Bihar.

Materials and Methods:

The present investigation was a questionnaire-based cross-sectional descriptive study. A total of 3,100 students attending government and private medical, dental, and engineering colleges in Patna were approached during the course of this study. Students were briefed about the study and questionnaire. BDI-II (Beck's Depression Inventory-II) was administered to the students and they were instructed to fill it. Beck's scores were recorded and a descriptive analysis performed.

Results:

2798 students out of 3,100 responded positively to the survey by completely filling out the form. The overall response rate was 90.25%. The overall prevalence of depressive symptoms was found to be 47.78%. Of the three streams, students belonging to the engineering stream (40.28%) showed a maximum prevalence of depressive symptoms followed by dental (38.50%) and medical students (34.74%).

Conclusion:

Our study showed an alarming prevalence of depression among professional course seeking students. This multi-dimensional disorder continues to affect student's performance and professionalism, thus, extending its negative impact to the community at large. This may carry out later in their lives, thus leaving a long-term negative impact. Considering the high rate of depressive symptoms, establishing a unit or facility to identify or diagnose it at an early stage and providing psychological support to students is recommended.

Prevalence and factors associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms among Palestinian medical students

BACKGROUND

Co-existence of depression and anxiety can be associated with severe detrimental consequences to the physical, mental and social wellbeing of the affected populations. This study was conducted to determine prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms among Palestinian medical students and to investigate associations between sociodemographic factors of the students with depressive and anxiety symptoms.

METHODS

This study was conducted in a cross-sectional observational design using a questionnaire in the period between September 2018 and April 2019 in a major university in the West Bank of Palestine. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and anxiety symptoms were assessed using the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). The questionnaire also collected the sociodemographic characteristics of the students. Reliability of the questionnaire was tested using the test re-test method. A total of 425 medical students were invited to participate in the study.

RESULTS

Of those invited, 286 students completed the questionnaire, giving a response rate of 67.3%. More than half (56.6%) of the students had minimal depression, 20.3% had mild depression, 14.0% had moderate depression, 9.1% had severe depression, 23.4% had no anxiety, 29.7% had mild to moderate anxiety, 25.5% had moderate to severe anxiety, and 21.3% had severe anxiety. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that academic stage (p-value < 0.01), Grade Point Average (p-value < 0.01), mental health status (p-value < 0.001), ever attempted suicide (p-value < 0.05), and religious commitment (p-value < 0.01) were predictors of BDI-II scores. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that academic stage (p-value < 0.05) and mental health status (p-value < 0.001) were predictors of BAI scores.

CONCLUSIONS

Depressive and anxiety symptoms were prevalent among Palestinian medical students in a major university in the West Bank of Palestine. Interventions might be designed to improve self-rated mental health of medical students in their academic years, ameliorate study conditions, and provision of counseling services to improve spirituality might be effective in reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety among medical students in Palestine. Future studies are still needed to investigate if these interventions could be useful in reducing depressive and anxiety symptoms among Palestinian medical students.