Comparisonof depression prevalence in medical students between the first and last years of Birjand University of Medical Sciences: Brief Article

Depression, due to its high prevalence and subsequent effects, is one of the important public health issues. Regarding the specific educational problems in the field of medicine and the importance of medical students’ mental health the present study aimed at comparing the prevalence of depression in the first two and the last two years of medical in Birjand University of Medical sciences. This descriptive analytical and cross-sectional study was done on 151 medical students in the first two and the last two years in Birjand University of Medical Sciences in 2010. Assessment of depression was done by means of Beck’s brief questionnaire in both groups who had been selected in a census. The obtained data was fed into SPSS software (V: 15) and was finally analyzed using by χ2 and independed Student-t tests at the significant level α<0.05. A total of 151 students whose mean age was 22±2 years participated in the current study. Prevalence of depression in all the cases in all types of the problem i.e. mild, moderate, and severe was 31/8%. Prevalence of depression in the first two years and the last two years was 29.8% and 34.3%, respectively; which was not statistically significant. Prevalence of depression in males was more than females, which was not significant either. Besides, no significant relationship was found between prevalence of depression with variables such as age, residence, parental education, housing, and employment status of parents. Apparently, prevalence of depression in medical students in Birjand university of Medical Sciences is high, although studying medicine is not significantly decisive in the occurrence of the problem.