Prevalence Of Anxiety And Depression Among Doctors Working In A Private Hospital In Pakistan

ABSTRACT

Objectives: Anxiety and depression among doctors may negatively affect quality of patient care, patient safety, and professionalism. Despite the potentially serious personal and professional consequences of depression, there are very limited researches done on depression among Pakistani doctors. Therefore this study was aimed to determine the prevalence of anxiety and depression among doctors in a private teaching hospital in Pakistan. Method: This was a cross-sectional survey conducted in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Pakistan. The Self-Reporting Questionnaire for Anxiety and Depression (SRQ 20) Scale was administered to a sample of 300 medical doctors. Chi-square test and multiple regressions were used for data analysis. Results: Anxiety and Depression among doctors was measured to be 27.3 % (95% CI 22.3, 32.4) in our study. Conclusion: More than one quarter of our doctors are suffering from anxiety and depression but this subject is fairly neglected in Pakistan and more studies should be conducted to collect more validated information on this matter.