Prevalence of depression among students of medical college in UPUMS, Saifai – A cross-sectional study

Introduction and Objectives: Depression is a common mental disorder which is often unrecognised. Medical education is associated with various pressures and stresses which can lead to depression and represents a neglected public health problem in India. Consequently prevalence of depression is higher in medical students as compared to the general population. Objectives: To assess the prevalence of depression among medical students. To find out socio-demographic correlates of depression. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study among medical students from 1st year to final year of UPUMS, Saifai. Socio-demographic details were collected using pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire and Beck depression inventory scale was used to assess the depression level. Data were analyzed using SPSS ver.23 software and appropriate statistical tests were applied. Level of significance was set at a p<0> Results: Of the 300 medical students participated in the study, 123(41%) were males and 127 (42.33%) were females. The overall prevalence of depression was found to be 23 percent. This is more common in females i.e. (27%) than males (20%) other factors, including gender, loss of loved in the family, financial problem, and education of parents were not found to have any significant association with prevalence of depression in the study. It was also observed that students were reluctant to seek help for depressive symptoms. Conclusion: Depression is quiet common among medical students, majority of the time it is unrecognised & it has a long term consequences on the overall development of the student.