Prevalence of Depression and Its Determinants among Students of a Private Medical College, West Bengal: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Medical education is a rigorous and demanding journey that can result in stress and depression among students. Depression in medical students might extend beyond their academic career and might influence their professional life. This study was planned to estimate the prevalence of depression among undergraduate students of a medical college in West Bengal and to find the association of depression with selected socio-demographic, behavioral, and academic variables. A facility-based observational analytical study, cross-sectional in design, was conducted among 261 undergraduate medical students in a medical college in eastern India. A predesigned, prevalidated structured questionnaire was used, comprising (i) sociodemographic variables and (ii) the Patient Health Questionnaire scale. Association was calculated by the Chi-square test. Those having a significant association with them were taken for a binary logistic regression. P <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Among 261 study participants, 77 (29.5%) had moderate to higher levels of depression, and 37.93% had no depression. In multivariable logistic regression analysis, four variables were found to be independent predictors for having moderate to higher categories of depression after controlling for possible confounders. Those not involved in sports (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 2.31), having one or more supplementary exams (AOR 2.09), having feelings of insecurity (AOR 5.42), and studying in a higher academic year (AOR 4.1) have higher odds of having moderate to higher categories of depression. The significant prevalence of depression among medical students indicates the need for regular screening and access to counselling services.