An investigation of the prevalence of depressive symptoms in soldiers during military training

Objectives A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of depressive symptoms in soldiers during military training in Chinese army and to identify associations between depressive symptoms and socio-demographic characteristics. Methods The self-rating depression scale (SDS) was used to assess self-reported experiences of depression among 1107 young adult males during military training. The following socio-demographic variables are considered as independent variables: age, service time, settlement type, education, levels of family income, family type, education of parents, health status, history of negative accidents, social support status and hobby status. A logistic regression model was used to estimate the association of these variables with depressive symptoms. Results 25.20% (n = 279) of the servicemen had depressive symptoms. The soldiers who had high education level (OR = 1.74; 95%CI: 1.37–2.12), come from city or town (OR = 1.39; 95%CI: 1.18–1.61), have served in army for a shorter time (OR = 1.63; 95%CI: 1.43–1.88), had head ache during training course (OR = 1.39; 95%CI: 1.12–2.09), had abdomen ache or diarrhea during training course (OR = 1.85; 95%CI: 1.47–2.13) and had training injury during training course (OR = 1.67; 95%CI: 1.29–1.83) are associated with depressive symptoms. Conclusions There was a high prevalence rate of depressive symptoms among soldiers during military training. Special attention should be paid to avoiding depressive symptoms in those who have high education level, come from city or town, have served in army for a shorter time and have health problems during training course.