Comparative Study of Stress among Depressed and Non-depressed Medical Students
Introduction: Stress and depression are common among medical students. There are number of studies on this topic, but only few have assessed stress in clinically non-depressed medical students. Aim: To study the prevalence, severity and profile of stress and depression in undergraduate medical...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
JCDR Research and Publications Private Limited
2020-10-01
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| Series: | Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://jcdr.net/articles/PDF/14160/45831_CE[Ra1]_F(SHU)_PF1(Ss_KM)_PFA(Ss_KM)_PN(SL).pdf |
| Summary: | Introduction: Stress and depression are common among
medical students. There are number of studies on this topic,
but only few have assessed stress in clinically non-depressed
medical students.
Aim: To study the prevalence, severity and profile of stress
and depression in undergraduate medical students and to
compare the same between depressed and non-depressed
students.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was done,
on 150 undergraduate medical students of a medical college in
Northern India from February, 2018 to January, 2019. Students
Stress Dimension Questionnaire (SSDQ) was used to assess
the stress severity and to categorise various domains affected.
Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) was used to measure
the depressive symptoms. Chi-square, independent-t test and
one-way ANOVA were used to make the group comparisons.
Results: Mean age of the participants was 20.767 (SD=1.888).
A total of 68.67% of the participants were males. Stress and
depressive symptoms were present in 66.67% and 52% of
the participants, respectively. Of the participants having no
depressive symptoms, 50% had stress. On group comparisons,
depressed group had significantly lower mean age, higher rates
of past history of psychiatric illness, higher prevalence and
severity of stress, than non-depressed group. Prevalence of
stress and depressive symptoms decreased with increasing
seniority.
Conclusion: Medical students have high prevalence of
stress and depression. In majority of medical students having
depression, stress is present. There are still a significant
proportion of students having no depression, but having high
levels of stress. So, policy makers should take note of this while
planning interventions to address the mental health of medical
students. |
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| ISSN: | 2249-782X 0973-709X |