scholarly journals Depression Among Undergraduate Medical Students

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 56-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bibhusan Basnet ◽  
M Jaiswal ◽  
B Adhikari ◽  
PM Shyangwa

Background  Psychological stress is common in medical school and associated with depression. Medical education is grooming in Nepal, but only few studies are done concerning mental health of medical students. Objective  To assess the prevalence of depression among medical students at different levels of education and find about their stressors. Methods  A cross sectional, questionnaire-based survey was carried out among the undergraduate medical students of B.P.Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Nepal. 50 students each from Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) first and third year were enrolled in the study conducted between November 2008 to January2009. The depression levels were assessed using Zung depression scale. Students were asked to complete the questionnaire and then the depression levels calculated .The stress inducing factors during their course of medical education were also assessed. Results  The overall prevalence of depression among the students was 29.78 percent. The prevalence of depression in first and third year was 36.74and 22.22 percent respectively. The prevalence of depression was 32.43 percent among female students versus 28.07 percent in male students. Both first and third year students gave high ratings to academic stress and hectic lifestyle as the main stress inducing factors. Conclusion  The prevalence of depression is seen especially in the first year medical students. So, attempts should be made to alleviate the stressors right from the time they join medical school. Since academic stress proved to be one of the major factors, measures to make the academic curriculum more student-friendly are suggested. Kathmandu University Medical Journal | VOL.10 | NO. 3 | ISSUE 39 | JUL- SEP 2012 | Page 56-59 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/kumj.v10i3.8021

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (07) ◽  
pp. 858-863
Author(s):  
Muhammad Luqman Farrukh Nagi ◽  
Syed Tehseen Haider Kazmi ◽  
Khadija Zafar Qureshi ◽  
Kiran Wasiq ◽  
Khadija Sajid ◽  
...  

Psychological stress is prevalent in medical schools and is associated withdepression. The personal and social sacrifices young medical apprentices have to makein order to sustain a fine academic outcome in an exceedingly competitive education setsthem under enormous strain. The estimated prevalence of depression among private medicalstudents has been 19% in United States, 49% in India, and 60% in Pakistan. Pakistan boastshighest prevalence of depression globally among undergraduate private medical students.Additionally a lack of any prior study in this institution, this study aimed to find prevalence ofdepression in the undergraduate private medical college of Lahore. Setting: The subjects werestudents of Shalamar Medical and Dental College, Lahore a private institution, in a metropolitanurban population. Study Design: Cross sectional study based on systematic random samplingtechnique. Methods: A modified, self-administered, structured questionnaire based onGoldberg’s depression scale was distributed to a sample of 240 subjects during March 2014,till October 2014. Higher total scores refer to higher depression levels. Prior to the initiation ofresearch permission was sought from the institution’s ethical review committee. The data entryand analyses were done in SPSS for Windows version 20.0. Results: The response rate was80%. The age of students (n= 164) averaged 21.1 ±1.4 years. The prevalence of depressionamong undergraduate medical students of our setting was almost 63% (n= 122). Thirty onepercent (n=59) were possibly mildly depressed, 9% (n=17) borderline depressed, 19%(n=37) mild to moderate cases, 20% (n=39) moderate to severe cases and 3 % (n=6) wereseverely depressed students. Almost 85% (n= 40) of the students from second year sufferedfrom depression the highest prevalence among all undergraduate medical years. A substantial41% (n= 36) and 42 % (n= 37) of students suffering from depression admitted to the use oftaking stimulants like amphetamines and caffeine respectively. Conclusion: The prevalence ofdepression is highest among the students of second academic year. Terminal illness of a familymember and effect of law and order situation of the country also compromise the mental healthof undergraduate medical students.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nishan Babu Pokhrel ◽  
Ramesh Khadayat ◽  
Pratikchya Tulachan

Abstract Background: Medical students and residents were found to have suffered from depression, anxiety, and burnout in various studies. However, these entities have not been adequately explored in the context of Nepal. We proposed to determine the prevalence of depression, anxiety, burnout, their associated factors, and identify their predictors in a sample of medical students and residents in a Nepalese medical school.Methods: It was a cross-sectional study with 651 medical students and residents chosen at random between December 2018 and February 2019. The validated Nepali version of Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory, and Medical Students' Stressor Questionnaire were used to assess depression, anxiety, burnout, and stressors respectively. We used univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses to identify the correlation of predictor variables with depression, anxiety, and burnout.Results: The overall prevalence of burnout (48.8%; 95% CI 44.9-52.7) and anxiety (45.3%; 95% CI 41.4-49.2) was more than that of depression (31%; 95% CI 27.5-34.7). Burnout and depression were more prevalent in residents than in medical students (burnout: 64.5% vs 37.6%, P-value < 0.0001; depression: 33.7% vs 29.1%, P-value 0.21). Whereas, medical students were found more anxious than residents (46.3% versus 43.96%, P-value 0.55). Academic related stressors caused high-grade stress to participants. Multivariable model for depression significantly showed anxiety, personal burnout, and work-related burnout as risk enhancing correlates; satisfaction with academic performance as a protective correlate. Similarly, the multivariate model for anxiety significantly identified female gender, depression, personal burnout, teaching and learning related stressors, and past history of mental illness as risk enhancing correlates; being satisfied with academic performance, getting adequate sleep, and being a second-year resident as protective correlates. The logistic model for burnout significantly showed being a first-year resident, depression, anxiety, and drive and desire related stressors as positive predictors. None of the variables were identified as significant negative predictors of burnout. Conclusions: A high prevalence of depression, anxiety, and burnout was seen among medical students and residents. Most of them were stressed with academic-related factors. A strong correlation between teaching and learning-related stressors with depression and anxiety may be a call for an efficient and more student-friendly curriculum.


2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (suppl 1) ◽  
pp. bjgp20X711293
Author(s):  
Sarah Garnett ◽  
Hajira Dambha-Miller ◽  
Beth Stuart

BackgroundEmpathy is a key health care concept and refers to care that incorporates understanding of patient perspective’s, shared decision making, and consideration of the broader context in which illness is experience. Evidence suggests experiences of doctor empathy correlate with improved health outcomes and patient satisfaction. It has also been linked to job satisfaction, and mental wellbeing for doctors. To date, there is a paucity of evidence on empathy levels among medical students. This is critical to understand given that it is a key point at which perceptions and practices of empathy in the longer term might be formed.AimTo quantify the level of empathy among UK undergraduate medical studentsMethodAn anonymised cross-sectional online survey was distributed to medical students across three universities. The previously validated Davis’s Interpersonal Reactivity Index was used to quantify empathy. The survey also collected information on age, sex, ethnicity, year of medical school training and included a free-text box for ‘any other comments’.ResultsData analysis is currently underway with high response rates. Mean empathy scores by age, sex, year of study and ethnic group are presented. A correlation analysis will examine associations between age and year of study, and mean empathy sores.ConclusionThese data will help to provide a better understanding of empathy levels to inform the provision of future empathy training and medical school curriculum design. Given previous evidence linking experiences of empathy to better health outcomes, the findings may also be significant to future patient care


Author(s):  
Shaikh Arshiya Kaiser Husain ◽  
Anwaya R. Magare ◽  
Purushottam A. Giri ◽  
Vijaykumar S. Jadhav

Background: The aim of medical education is to produce competent, physically and mentally strong health professionals, as they are going to be the pillars of the future health care system. Stress is one of the most common and process-oriented obstacles in medical education. It often exerts a negative effect on the academic performance, physical health, and psychological well-being of the students. Dealing with overloaded medical curriculum, competing with peers, being away from home and meeting high expectations imposed by parents and society to excel is among the common stressful transitions at this stage.Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out amongst 352 undergraduate medical students of a private medical college in a rural area of Maharashtra during April to October 2019. The structured questionnaire was used to record the data. Collected data was used to assess the severity of mental health issues among medical students.Results: Majority 194 (55.11%) students were in the age of 18 to 20 years followed by 141 (40.06%) were in 21 to 23 years. There were 196 (55.68%) girl students and 156 (44.32%) boys. According to the various categories, 80 (22.73%) of the students had low stress scores, followed by 76 (21.59%) in minimal. A highly significant difference in stress scores was seen between boys and girls, which was more in boys.Conclusions: Study concluded that undergraduate medical students perceive minimal to very high stress presented as various systems that vary with the year of study and gender wise too. There is a further need to look into the various causes of stress.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 11-15
Author(s):  
Husneara Begum ◽  
AKM Asaduzzaman ◽  
Humayun Kabir Talukder ◽  
Tahmina Nargis ◽  
Kazi Khairul Alam ◽  
...  

Introduction: This descriptive type of cross sectional study was carried out to explore the extent of use of social media by the undergraduate medical students and its consequences in medical education. This study was carried out in nine (Four public and five private) medical colleges all over Bangladesh during a period from July 2016-2017.Objective: The study revealed that the use of social media by the undergraduate medical students and its effect on their lifestyle and medical education.Methodology: Sample size was 673 medical students. Data was collected by self-administered semi-structured questionnaire from 673 respondents. Convenience sampling technique was adopted for data collection. For each variable frequency and percentages was calculated. There was also a part of in-depth interview for the respondents on the perception of use of Social media.Results: Among the students 54.68% females & 45.34% males, the mean age of the respondents was 20.76 years. Around 42.6% respondents were using Social media for4-6 years. The main use of social media by the respondents was Facebook 70.1%, main devices was mobile phone 96.8%. The main purpose of using the Social media for non-academic purposes such as, communicate with others26.0%, for chatting 51.3%. Maxium duration > 4 times / day up to >6 hours. Academic purpose 44.7% users using the SM every day. Six hundred forty six respondents agreed for negative effect of social media. 52.2% agreed that they used Social media during lecture class.Conclusion: Most students had positive thoughts towards using social media. Students were using social media for almost nonprofessional reason. So, there is need to build up widespread awareness to use social media by medical students for professionalisms.Bangladesh Journal of Medical Education Vol.9(2) 2018: 11-15


PeerJ ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. e840 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Waqas ◽  
Spogmai Khan ◽  
Waqar Sharif ◽  
Uzma Khalid ◽  
Asad Ali

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-19
Author(s):  
Nazma Begum ◽  
Sakhawat Hossain ◽  
Md Humayun Kabir Talukder

This cross sectional descriptive study was carried out to determine the students' view about the influence of formative assessment on summative assessment The study was carried out from July 2009 to June 2010 over 300 intern doctors of Medicine and Paediatrics department of two government and two private medical colleges. Data were collected through self administered questionnaire. The questionnaire included different opinion about the influence of formative assessment on summative assessment and were rated using the 5 point Likert's scale. This study revealed that feedback from formative assessment to the students is important to supplement and modify teaching by the teachers. Students' fear is for summative assessment is reduced by formative assessment Written test, VIVA/SOE and OSCE/OSPE of formative assessment greatly improves the results of summative assessment Students opined that to improve the formative assessment the number of teachers should be increased, teachers should be trained up, teachers should give more time to the students and optimum feedback should be provided to the students. Frequency of formative assessment should remain as it is. Twenty to twenty five percent marks from formative assessment should be added to the summative assessment.Bangladesh Journal of Medical Education Vol.4(1) 2013: 16-19


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 272-280
Author(s):  
Elise Pauline Skjevik ◽  
J. Donald Boudreau ◽  
Unni Ringberg ◽  
Edvin Schei ◽  
Terese Stenfors ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction Mentoring has become a prevalent educational strategy in medical education, with various aims. Published reviews of mentoring report very little on group-based mentorship programs. The aim of this systematic review was to identify group-based mentorship programs for undergraduate medical students and describe their aims, structures, contents and program evaluations. Based on the findings of this review, the authors provide recommendations for the organization and assessment of such programs. Methods A systematic review was conducted, according to PRISMA guidelines, and using the databases Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO and ERIC up to July 2019. Eight hundred abstracts were retrieved and 20 studies included. Quality assessment of the quantitative studies was done using the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument (MERSQI). Results The 20 included studies describe 17 different group mentorship programs for undergraduate medical students in seven countries. The programs were differently structured and used a variety of methods to achieve aims related to professional development and evaluation approaches. Most of the studies used a single-group cross-sectional design conducted at a single institution. Despite the modest quality, the evaluation data are remarkably supportive of mentoring medical students in groups. Discussion Group mentoring holds great potential for undergraduate medical education. However, the scientific literature on this genre is sparse. The findings indicate that group mentorship programs benefit from being longitudinal and mandatory. Ideally, they should provide opportunities throughout undergraduate medical education for regular meetings where discussions and personal reflection occur in a supportive environment.


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