Perceived stress and prevalence of depression among first-year medical students

Background: Modern life is full of hassles, deadlines, frustrations, and demands. For many people, stress is so common that it has become a way of life. Stress is not always bad. In small doses, it can help a person perform and motivate to do the best. Procuring medical degree is a tedious job. People undergo enormous stress during the course of medical education. Aims: Our study was aimed to explore the patterns of stress perceived and the prevalence of depression among first-year medical students. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on first-year medical students by using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (ZSRDS) to assess the level of perceived stress and depression, respectively. The data were tabulated using MS Excel sheet and were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16. The difference in the patterns of perceived stress and prevalence of depression among males and females was analyzed by Chi-square test. Results: Among the study sample of 143 medical students, 58% of the students were females and 42% were males. Out all the subjects, 3.5% students scored in low stress group, 21.7% students scored in average stress, 38.5% students scored in the group of high stress, and 35.7% students scored in very high stress group. The level of perceived stress was higher in females. The number of students who scored in mild depression was 7.7% and the number of students who scored in moderate depression was 1.4%. Statistically significant correlation was observed between the high stress and prevalence of depression. Conclusion: Our study pointed out the need of providing attention to medical students during their entire tenure, especially during exams.

Abstract licence: CC BY-NC-SA

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