A Descriptive Study of Depressive Disorders among Medical Students in Jalalabad City

##plugins.themes.academic_pro.article.sidebar##

Published Jun 11, 2024
Download
PDF 45
Statistic

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
Vol. 3 No. 01 (2024): March

##plugins.themes.academic_pro.article.main##

Sayed Zekria Hashimi
Abdulillah Kamran
Shukria Niazi
Mohammad Haroon Rahemi

Abstract

Depression is one of the most common and significant mental health problems, affecting approximately 280 million people globally. Medical students, who live in the stressful environment of the medical field, frequently exhibit depressive symptoms. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and severity of depressive disorders among medical students in the medical faculties of Jalalabad city. A cross-sectional study was conducted from November 1, 2023, to November 30, 2023, among students of the curative medicine faculties in Jalalabad, Nangarhar, Afghanistan. The sample size was 460, with an equal number of students randomly selected from each medical faculty and each academic year, from the 1st to the 5th year. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was utilized to screen for depressive symptoms. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 28. All of the 460 medical students selected through a stratified random sampling method responded to the questionnaire. A total of 335 (72.8%) medical students had at least one type of depressive disorder. Among them, 140 (30.4%) had mild depression, 135 (29.3%) had moderate depression, 40 (8.6%) had moderately severe depression, and 20 (4.3%) reported severe depression. Notably, fourth-year students had the highest prevalence among all classes, with a rate of 74.2%. The study found a high prevalence of depressive disorders among medical students, highlighting the need for further studies to investigate the causes and associated factors of depression among medical students in Jalalabad City.

Keywords

Depressive disorder, Mental health, Medical students, Patient Health

##plugins.themes.academic_pro.article.details##

How to Cite
Hashimi, S. Z., Kamran, A., Niazi, S., & Rahemi, M. H. (2024). A Descriptive Study of Depressive Disorders among Medical Students in Jalalabad City. NUIJB, 3(01), 33–44. Retrieved from https://nuijb.nu.edu.af/index.php/nuijb/article/view/155

References

  1. Adhikari, A., Sujakhu, E., Sandervee, G., & Zoowa, S. B. (2021). Depression among Medical Students of a Medical College in Nepal during COVID-19 Pandemic: A descriptive cross-sectional study. JNMA: Journal of the Nepal Medical Association, 59(239), 645.
  2. Agyapong-Opoku, G., Agyapong, B., Obuobi-Donkor, G., & Eboreime, E. (2023). Depression and Anxiety among Undergraduate Health Science Students: A Scoping Review of the Literature. Behavioral Sciences, 13(12), 1002.
  3. Alharbi, H., Almalki, A., Alabdan, F., & Haddad, B. (2018). Depression among medical students in Saudi medical colleges: a cross-sectional study. Advances in medical education and practice, 887-891.
  4. Brenneisen Mayer, F., Souza Santos, I., Silveira, P. S., Itaqui Lopes, M. H., de Souza, A. R. N. D., Campos, E. P., de Abreu, B. A. L., Hoffman II, I., Magalhães, C. R., & Lima, M. C. P. (2016). Factors associated to depression and anxiety in medical students: a multicenter study. BMC medical education, 16, 1-9.
  5. Ehsan, H., Suzan, H., Dalil, L., Ahmadi, N., & Hoda, B. A. Depression causes among medical students at KUMS: A quantitative study.
  6. Frost, A., Wilkinson, M., Boyle, P., Patel, P., & Sullivan, R. (2016). An assessment of the barriers to accessing the Basic Package of Health Services (BPHS) in Afghanistan: was the BPHS a success? Globalization and health, 12(1), 1-11.
  7. Goebert, D., Thompson, D., Takeshita, J., Beach, C., Bryson, P., Ephgrave, K., Kent, A., Kunkel, M., Schechter, J., & Tate, J. (2009). Depressive symptoms in medical students and residents: a multischool study. Academic medicine, 84(2), 236-241.
  8. Hamrah, M. S., Hamrah, M. H., Ishii, H., Suzuki, S., Hamrah, M. H., Hamrah, A. E., Dahi, A. E., Takeshita, K., Yisireyili, M., & Hamrah, M. H. (2018). Anxiety and depression among hypertensive outpatients in Afghanistan: a cross-sectional study in Andkhoy City. International journal of hypertension, 2018.
  9. Ibrahim, M. B., & Abdelreheem, M. H. (2015). Prevalence of anxiety and depression among medical and pharmaceutical students in Alexandria University. Alexandria Journal of Medicine, 51(2), 167-173.
  10. Inam, S., Saqib, A., & Alam, E. (2003). Prevalence of anxiety and depression among medical students of private university. Journal-Pakistan Medical Association, 53(2), 44-46.
  11. Juanico-Morales, L., Nava-Aguilera, E., Morales-Pérez, A., Morales-Nava, L., Valdez-Bencomo, M. A., Emigdio-Vargas, A., Serrano-de Los Santos, F. R., & Andersson, N. (2023). Depression and associated factors in medical students in Acapulco during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study. PloS one, 18(5), e0285903.
  12. Khan, M. S., Mahmood, S., Badshah, A., Ali, S. U., & Jamal, Y. (2006). Prevalence of depression, anxiety and their associated factors among medical students in Karachi, Pakistan. Journal-Pakistan Medical Association, 56(12), 583.
  13. Lei, X.-Y., Xiao, L.-M., Liu, Y.-N., & Li, Y.-M. (2016). Prevalence of depression among Chinese University students: a meta-analysis. PloS one, 11(4), e0153454.
  14. Mohammadi, A. Q., Neyazi, A., Rangelova, V., Padhi, B. K., Odey, G. O., Ogbodum, M. U., & Griffiths, M. D. (2023). Depression and quality of life among Afghan healthcare workers: A cross-sectional survey study. BMC psychology, 11(1), 29.
  15. Naushad, S., Farooqui, W., Sharma, S., Rani, M., Singh, R., & Verma, S. (2014). Study of proportion and determinants of depression among college students in Mangalore city. Nigerian medical journal: journal of the Nigeria Medical Association, 55(2), 156.
  16. Neyazi, A., Haidarzada, A. S., Rangelova, V., Erfan, A., Bashiri, B., Neyazi, M., Faizi, N., Konşuk-Ünlü, H., & Griffiths, M. D. (2023). Prevalence and predictors of depression among women in Afghanistan: a cross-sectional study. Discover Psychology, 3(1), 7.
  17. Ngasa, S. N., Sama, C.-B., Dzekem, B. S., Nforchu, K. N., Tindong, M., Aroke, D., & Dimala, C. A. (2017). Prevalence and factors associated with depression among medical students in Cameroon: a cross-sectional study. BMC psychiatry, 17(1), 1-7.
  18. Nihiser, A. J., Lee, S. M., Wechsler, H., McKenna, M., Odom, E., Reinold, C., Thompson, D., & Grummer‐Strawn, L. (2007). Body mass index measurement in schools. Journal of School Health, 77(10), 651-671.
  19. Panter‐Brick, C., Eggerman, M., Mojadidi, A., & McDade, T. W. (2008). Social stressors, mental health, and physiological stress in an urban elite of young Afghans in Kabul. American Journal of Human Biology: The Official Journal of the Human Biology Association, 20(6), 627-641.
  20. Pourhoseingholi, M. A., Vahedi, M., & Rahimzadeh, M. (2013). Sample size calculation in medical studies. Gastroenterology and Hepatology from bed to bench, 6(1), 14.
  21. Rahman, M. A., Dhira, T. A., Sarker, A. R., & Mehareen, J. (2022). Validity and reliability of the Patient Health Questionnaire scale (PHQ-9) among university students of Bangladesh. PloS one, 17(6), e0269634.
  22. Sayed, G. D. (2011). Mental health in Afghanistan: Burden, challenges and the way forward.
  23. Shah, P., Sapkota, A., & Chhetri, A. (2021). Depression, Anxiety and Stress among First-year Medical Students in a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study. JNMA: Journal of the Nepal Medical Association, 59(236), 346.
  24. Shrestha, N., Shrestha, N., Khanal, S., Dahal, S., Lama, R., Simkhada, P., & Pradhan, S. N. (2019). Prevalence of depression among medical students of a tertiary care teaching hospital. JNMA: Journal of the Nepal Medical Association, 57(220), 403.
  25. Sun, Y., Fu, Z., Bo, Q., Mao, Z., Ma, X., & Wang, C. (2020). The reliability and validity of PHQ-9 in patients with major depressive disorder in psychiatric hospital. BMC psychiatry, 20, 1-7.
  26. Weisell, R. C. (2002). Body mass index as an indicator of obesity. Asia Pacific journal of clinical nutrition, 11, S681-S684.
  27. Wells, T. S., LeardMann, C. A., Fortuna, S. O., Smith, B., Smith, T. C., Ryan, M. A., Boyko, E. J., Blazer, D., & Team, M. C. S. (2010). A prospective study of depression following combat deployment in support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. American journal of public health, 100(1), 90-99.
  28. Westrick, P. A. (2017). Reliability estimates for undergraduate grade point average. Educational Assessment, 22(4), 231-252.
  29. Wickramasinghe, A., Essén, B., Surenthirakumaran, R., & Axemo, P. (2023). Prevalence of depression among students at a Sri Lankan University: A study using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) during the COVID-19 pandemic. BMC public health, 23(1), 528.
  30. Williams, N. (2014). PHQ-9. Occupational medicine, 64(2), 139-140.
  31. Zafar, U., Daud, S., & Khalid, A. (2020). Determinants of depression among undergraduate medical students of a private medical college in Lahore. JPMA, 34, 2019.
  32. Zaini, R., Anjum, F., & Dahlawi, H. (2017). Assessment of depression among applied medical science college students at Taif University: A questionnaire survey. depression, 5, 9.

Similar Articles

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.

Most read articles by the same author(s)