Prevalence of depression among medical students in a private medical school: A cross-sectional study / The Health Sciences Journal

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION@#Medical students are susceptible to depression due to the constant exposure to stressful situations and almost 30% of medical students suffer from depression. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of depression among first- to third-year medical students in a private medical institution.@*METHODS@#A descriptive, cross-sectional study design was employed on first- to third-year medical students selected through simple random sampling. They were asked to answer the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 for the assessment of depression. @*RESULTS@#The prevalence of moderate to severe depression was 19.1%. Almost 15% of the first-year medical students, 23.7% of the second-year medical students and 18.3% of the third-year students were found to have a risk of having depression. Twenty-one percent of the male students and 18.4% of the females were classified to have depression.@*CONCLUSION@#Almost one-fifth of the first- to third-year medical students in the private medical institution have depression. The highest prevalence of having depression was among second-year medical students, males, 20 to 22 years old.