Uzma Hassan, Naila Azam, Ayesha Farooq, Najm US Saqib Khan.
Prevalence Of Depression In Medical Students At Rawal Institute Of Health Sciences, Islamabad.
Pak J Public Health Jan ;8(1):43-7.

Background: Depression is a common mental disorder, a reason of disability and can lead to suicidal tendency. It is a major contributor to the global burden of disease, causing more than 350 million, all age people suffering from depression. Medical Institute is a stressful and competitive atmosphere so the medical students have to make a lot of personal and social sacrifice to retain respectable educational grades. This pressure may result in an extensive range of psychological ailments like depression, tension and anxiety. Objective: To determine the prevalence of depression in medical students at Rawal Institute of Health Sciences, Islamabad. Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted over six months using the non-probability convenience method of sampling. Total 100 students from different classes of 1st to 5th year MBBS were included. A close ended questionnaire was used by interview method and response was noted against thirteen study variables related to symptoms of depression. The prevalence of depression in students was calculated based on the ICD-10 criteria; according to which they were categorized as "no depression" having less than four symptoms, "mild depression" having four symptoms, "moderate depression" having four to six symptoms and "severe depression" having seven or more symptoms. Results: Out of 100 students 55% students were suffering from depression: among which 15 % were having mild depression, 23 % had moderate depression and 17 % had severe depression. It was more common among female students, residing in hostels. Conclusion: The results depicted that there is high prevalence of depression in medical students, more among female students. This study sets an important groundwork for more elaborate and extensive future studies. It is recommended that the Institutes should have comprehensive educational programs, regarding preventive measures about mental health syndromes, and implementation of rehabilitative approaches in this regard.

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