Anxiety and depression among medical students: a cross-sectional study.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence of anxiety and depression among medical students at Nishtar Medical College, Multan.


METHODS
A cross-sectional study was carried out at Nishtar Medical College, Multan in 2008. The questionnaire was administered to 815 medical students who had spent more than 6 months in college and had no self reported physical illness. They were present at the time of distribution of the questionnaires and consented. Prevalence of anxiety and depression was assessed using a structured validated questionnaire, the Aga Khan University Anxiety and Depression Scale with a cut-off score of 19. Data Analysis was done using SPSS v. 14.


RESULTS
Out of 815 students, 482 completed the questionnaire with a response rate of 59.14%. The mean age of students was 20.66 +/- 1.8 years. A high prevalence of anxiety and depression (43.89%) was found amongst medical students. Prevalence of anxiety and depression among students of first, second, third, fourth and final years was 45.86%, 52.58%, 47.14%, 28.75% and 45.10% respectively. Female students were found to be more depressed than male students (OR = 2.05, 95% CI = 1.42-2.95, p = 0.0001). There was a significant association between the prevalence of anxiety and depression and the respective year of medical college (p = 0.0276). It was seen that age, marital status, locality and total family income did not significantly affect the prevalence of anxiety and depression.


CONCLUSIONS
The results showed that medical students constitute a vulnerable group that has a high prevalence of psychiatric morbidity comprising of anxiety and depression.
Jadoon
Nauman Arif
NA
Nishtar Medical College, Multan, Pakistan.
Yaqoob
Rehan
R
Raza
Ali
A
Shehzad
Muhammad Asif
MA
Zeshan
Sharif Choudhry
SC
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012307:Risk Factors; D012577:Schools, Medical; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult