Prevalence and factors associated with depression among the students of a medical college in Kerala Madhusudan M1, Aravind M2,*, Gopi Arun3, Ajanya V4, Pradeep Vinaya4, Mangaladan U Fabeena4, Hussain OC Sakeer5 1Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, DM Wayanad Institute of Medical Sciences, Wayanad District, Kerala 2Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Kanchipuram District, Tamil Nadu 3Lecturer in Biostatistics, Department of Community Medicine, DM Wayanad Institute of Medical Sciences, Wayanad District, Kerala 4Undergraduate Student, Department of Community Medicine, DM Wayanad Institute of Medical Sciences, Wayanad District, Kerala 5Tutor, Department of Community Medicine, DM Wayanad Institute of Medical Sciences, Wayanad District, Kerala *Corresponding author: Dr Aravind M, Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Old Mahabalipuram Road, Kelambakkam, Kanchipuram District, Tamil Nadu-603103, Phone: 9894320613; Email: m_aravind86@yahoo.co.in
Online published on 9 January, 2019. Abstract Introduction Depression has a higher prevalence among medical students compared to general population. This could lead to deteriorating academic performance, errors in patient care and even suicides. There are hardly few studies conducted in this part of the country to assess the prevalence of depression among medical students and also the factors associated with it. Also, there are no studies which have used the new version of the Beck's Depression inventory (BDI-II). Hence in this background the present study was undertaken Methodology This was a cross-sectional study done at DM Wayanad Institute of Medical Sciences, Wayanad District, Kerala, between October 2017 and January 2018. All the undergraduate medical students of the college were the study subjects. Data was collected using a predesigned and pretested self-administered questionnaire (Beck's Depression Inventory II). Completed responses were obtained from a total 720 students. Results 68.5% were found to have no depression and 31.5% depression. 15.1%, 9.3% and 7.1% were found to have mild, moderate and severe depression respectively. Prevalence of depression was more among males compared to females, unmarried subjects compared to married, Part I-Final Phase students compared to other phases, NRI quota students compared to other quotas, Muslims compared to other religions, urban origin students compared to rural and those with a history of major life event, chronic illness, feeling of loneliness, backlog in academics, consumption of alcohol and tobacco compared to those without. However only place of origin, h/o major life event, feeling of loneliness, backlog in academics and h/o consumption of tobacco and alcohol were found to have statistically significant association with depression. Conclusion The prevalence of depression in our study was lower compared to other studies. Urban origin, h/o major life event, feeling of loneliness, backlog in academics and h/o consumption of tobacco and alcohol were found to be associated with presence of depression Top Keywords Depression, students, medical college, Kerala, Beck's Depression inventory II. Top |