Prevalence of depression among medical students of a tertiary care teaching hospital

Abstract

Introduction: Depression is one of the major problems encountered by medical students. This may cause a negative effect on cognitive functioning and learning of students resulting in poor health care and service delivery in future. The presence of this major problem is necessary to be evaluated. Enough recent data regarding its prevalence is not available in our country. Thus, the main aim of this study is to find the prevalence of depression among medical students of a tertiary care teaching hospital. Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study which was conducted among undergraduate medical students of a tertiary teaching hospital over a four-month period (July to October 2019). Ethical clearance was received from the Institutional Review Committee of the same tertiary teaching hospital. Random sampling technique was used to collect data to meet the calculated sample size. Data analysis was done in the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data. Results: The prevalence of depression among selected medical students of Kathmandu Medical College and Teaching Hospital is 59 (27.2%) at 95% Confidence Interval (21.28-33.12%). Thirty (14%) of the participants were mildly depressed, 21 (10%) moderately depressed while 8 (4%) were severely depressed according to Beck’s Depression Index II. Conclusions: Prevalence of depression among medical students is relatively significant as found in similar studies done in other centres. Thus appropriate programs and strategies should be implemented to avoid depression from causing a negative effect on cognitive functioning and learning of students. Favourable environment where students are able to talk about their mental health issues is a must.