title: Assessment of depression and suicidal behaviour among medical students in Portugal.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine depression and suicidal behaviour and associated factors in a sample of medical students in Portugal.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a cross-sectional study design of 456 native Portuguese medical students from the 4thand 5thyear at the University of Lisbon. Participants answered a self-report survey including questions on demographic and clinical variables. Statistical analyses were conducted using the chi-square test, with a Monte Carlo simulation when appropriate.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Depression among medical students was 6.1% (n=28) and suicidal behaviour 3.9% (n=18). Higher depression scores were noted in female medical students (χ2=4.870,df=2,p=0.027), students who lived alone (χ2=8.491,df=3,p=0.037), those with poor physical health (χ2=48.269,df=2,p<0.001), with poor economic status (χ2=8.579,df=2,p=0.014), students with a psychiatric diagnosis (χ2=44.846,df=1,p=0.009), students with a family history of psychiatric disorders (χ2=5.284,df=1,p=0.022) and students with high levels of anxiety (χ2=104.8, df=3, p<0.001).  Depression scores were also higher in students with suicidal ideation (χ2=85.0,df=1,p<0.001), suicidal plan (χ2=47.9,df=1,p<0.001) and suicidal attempt (χ2=19.2,df=1,p<0.001). Suicidal behaviour was higher in medical students who lived alone (χ2=16.936,df=3,p=0.001), who had poor physical health (χ2=18,929,df=2,p=0.001), poor economic status (χ2=9.181,df=2,p=0.01), who are/were in psychopharmacology treatment (χ2=30.108,df =1,p<0.001), and who had high alcohol use (χ2=7.547,df=2,p=0.023), severe depression (χ2=88.875,df=3,p<0.001) and high anxiety levels (χ2=50.343,df=3,p<0.001). The results also revealed that there were no differences between students in the 4thand 5thyears of medical school regarding rate of depression and suicidal behaviour.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Since depression and suicidal behaviour are mental health problems affecting a significant proportion of medical students, medical schools should implement programs that promote mental health wellness, physical health and economic status between other factors.
authors: Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors: Ricardo
authors: R
authors: Coentre
authors: Department of Health Sciences, Psychology and Psychiatry Unit, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
authors: Carlo
authors: C
authors: Faravelli
authors: Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors: Maria Luísa
authors: ML
authors: Figueira
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011174:Portugal / Q000453:epidemiology; D012577:Schools, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016728:Self-Injurious Behavior / Q000453:epidemiology; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D059020:Suicidal Ideation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: depression; medical students; portugal; suicidal behaviour