The Prevalence of Depression Among Resident Doctors in a Teaching Hospital

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: Residency training programs and level of stress on trainees has been a topic of concern. Stressors identified have ranged from increased workload, to poor learning environment and to financial constraints. Consequences have been physical and emotional sometimes making them more susceptible to depression or to suicide in severe cases. Objectives: This study looked at prevalence of depression among trainee doctors in Ziauddin Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan. Methods: A survey was conducted in three campuses of Ziauddin hospital, while maintaining strict confidentiality of participant’s data. Survey focused on prevalence of depression, gender differences and differences in prevalence during years of training. The Beck Depression Inventory was used and all computations were done using IBM SPSS 20 software. Results: Our results showed Prevalence of depression to be statistically insignificant among the trainees (mean ±SD = 7.88 ±5.93; ).There were no gender based and training level variances (mean ±SD = 9.37 ±10.52 and 8.52 ±7.55 respectively). Prevalence of depression in the three campuses remained nonsignificant (P=0.337). Conclusion: Residency Training programs can be a source of depression in trainees. This study, on the contrary, has shown statistically insignificant results regarding depression in trainees. These can be indicative of positive reflection of structured training programs resulting in overall wellbeing of the trainees. KEY WORDS: Residency, Training, Trainees, Depression, Pakistan.