Prevalence of Depression and Associated Factors among Medical Students in a Southern Nigerian University

INTRODUCTION: Medical students may be vulnerable to depression and other psychiatric morbidity. This study sought to assess the prevalence of depression and associated factors among medical students in Niger Delta University, Bayelsa State, Nigeria.

METHODS: Using a self-administered, author-developed questionnaire with adaptations from the Patient-rated version of Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI-PR) and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS), data including socio-demographic characteristics, alcohol use/abuse, cigarette smoking, features of depression and anxiety were collected from 243 medical students in this descriptive cross-sectional study over a period of 4months.

RESULTS: Of the 243 participants, 52.7% were male, mostly aged 18 to 24 years (67.1%). The incidence of depression, suicidal ideation, alcohol use, and psychoactive substance use as defined by the MINI questionnaire was 30.5%, 14.8%, 14.8%, and 9.9%, respectively. As defined by DASS 21, almost a third suffered different levels of anxiety (29.6%), and less than one-fifth reported different levels of stress (17.7%). Female gender and year of study showed a significant association with the diagnosis of depression (X2=15.75;p–0.008). Living arrangement (X2=11.43;p–0.022), perception of accommodation condition (X2=16.35;p–0.001), academic performance (X2=18.02;p–0.001), and experience of academic failure (X2=5.13;p–0.023) all had a significant relationship with depression among the study population.

CONCLUSION: Prevalence of depression among medical students is high; its diagnosis showed a significant association with female gender, year of study, and perception of social and academic factors. Several comorbid psychiatric conditions may coexist with depression among medical students; therefore, the approach to their mental health should be holistic with attention paid to associated factors and psychiatric comorbidities.