Prevalence and severity of depression among undergraduate students in Karachi, Pakistan: a cross sectional study

Abstract

Purpose: To highlight the prevalence and severity of depression amongundergraduate students in public and private universities in Karachi,Pakistan.Methods: In this cross-sectional study a total of 408 undergraduatestudents from both public and private universities in Karachi, Pakistancompleted Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) questionnaire toappraise the presence and extent of depression among the participants.Their sociodemographic characteristics such as age, gender and course ofstudy as well as drug use data were also collected and analyzed.Results: Depression prevalence was 53.43% (38.07% for males and61.00% for females). A significant disparity in the prevalence ofdepression across ethnicity was observed. Less than 50% (n = 163) ofthe students were satisfied with their duration of degree course workwhile 111 (27.20%) participants were not sure about this. The intensityof depression increased with declining satisfaction level (Gamma =0.264, p = 0.001) which affected the performance and results of studentsduring their studies. A majority of the participants (89%, n = 358) ofour study have never used medicines to alter their mood.Conclusion: The findings of this study highlight the importance ofunderstanding the unique strains and mental health effect of universityeducation on undergraduate students, especially female students.