Prevalence and factors associated with depressive symptoms among medical students in their first and final year of study

Abstract

Background/Aim. The mental health of medical students worsens during their studies, and research shows that medical students are at high risk of depression. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of depressive symptoms and to examine the association between various risk factors and depressive symptoms in a sample of first- and sixth-year medical students at the University of Novi Sad. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Novi Sad. The sample consisted of 308 students divided into two groups – 213 students in the first year and 9 5 students in the final (sixth) year of medical studies. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was used to measure depressive symptoms. Within this instrument, item 9 was used to identify suicidal ideation. Self-esteem was evaluated with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES). Additional questions were focused on self-assessed material status, lifestyle factors, and mental healthcare-seeking. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were applied. Results. The prevalence of depressive episodes among medical students was 16.6%. Almost 9% had thoughts of committing suicide. First-year students with low self-esteem were almost seven times more likely to suffer from moderate to severe depressive symptoms than those with high self-esteem. Students who had used sleeping pills or sedatives without a prescription were nearly five times more likely to have a PHQ-9 score ≥ 10 than those who had not [odds ratio (OR) = 4.97, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.83–13.52)]. Sixth-year students with poor or average self-assessed social relation-ships and low self-esteem had a stronger association with a PHQ-9 score ≥ 1 0. Conclusion. There is a high prevalence of depressive episodes among first and sixth-year medical students, and it is associated with low self-esteem in both groups, use of sleeping or sedative pills without a prescription among first-year students, and poor social health in sixth-year students. We recommend routine screening for depression in medical students and establishing prevention and intervention programs.

Keywords

• depression
• mental health
• patient health questionnaire
• signs and symptoms
• students, medical
• suicidal ideation