DEPRESSION IN MEDICAL STUDENTS A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY IN A PUBLIC SECTOR INSTITUTION

Medical students are considered by the society as young intellectual elites, destined to become proficient doctors, and accordingly, are expected to have unlimited reservoirs of strength and stamina to see them through their training. Burdened by this expectation, pressured to excel among their peers, overwhelmed by the amount of information to absorb, haunted with self-doubt over their abilities, many medical students suffer from burnout and a significant number face depression. OBJECTIVE: To find frequency of depression in medical students of a public sector institution using HAMILTON-Depression scale and Agha Khan University Anxiety Depression Scales (AKUADS) and its association with the academic year. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. PLACE AND PERIOD: A Public sector institution; from February to May, 2013. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: 30 students from each class (n=150) selected through convenient sampling were given questionnaires based on Hamilton Depression Scale (HAM-D) and Agha Khan University Anxiety and Depression Scale (AKUADS). Data was collected, compiled and analyzed using SPSS version 16. The frequencies and percentages of depression and its symptoms according to both scales were tabulated. The association of frequency of depression with each academic year was also determined. Then, using HAM-D as a standard scale, the sensitivity of AKUADS was calculated through cross tabulation. RESULTS: Out of 150 students 90 students (60%) had depression according to HAM-D and 92 students (61.3%) according to AKUADS. Students in the initial years of education exhibited depression more frequently with its frequency declining over the course of academic years. Using HAM-D as standard scale, the sensitivity of AKUADS was calculated to be 77.8%.