Prevalence of depression and anxiety among undergraduate medical students in a government medical college of Karachi

Pooja Deepak, Urooj Un Nisa Usmani, Washdev Washdev, Daniyal Mirza, Farah Naz, Kheenpal Das, Raza Ur Rehman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objective: To determine the prevalence of depression and anxiety (PDA) among undergraduate medical students including both males and females studying in a public university and to see whether an association exists between the academic year of study and the PDA. Methodology: A cross-sectional study, using a self-administered, structured, validated questionnaire, was conducted on a total of 325 medical students selected through convenience sampling technique at Dow Medical College. An english version of the AGA KHAN UNIVERSITY ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION SCALE (AKUADS) was used for evaluating the prevalence of depression and anxiety with inclusion of basic personal information of the students. Results: With a 100% response rate and a cutoff score of 20, 36.3% (118 out of 325) of the sampled population was found to be at risk of anxiety and depression. There was no significant association of depression and anxiety with gender and academic year of study but there was a significant association of depression and anxiety with positive family history. Conclusion: Medical students in university of Karachi are at risk of depression and anxiety with positive family history acting as an add-on factor.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)281-285
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Postgraduate Medical Institute
Volume31
Issue number3
Publication statusPublished - 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Anxiety
  • Anxiety and depression scale
  • Depression
  • Medical students

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