Depression and stress among the first year medical students in University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hochiminh City, Vietnam

Abstract

Objectives: 1) to assess the prevalence of depression by using the Center for Epidemiologic studies depression scale (CES-D). 2) to determine sources of stress. 3) to find out the relationship between the main sources of stress, the general characteristics, potential personal consequences and depression among the first year Medical students in February, 2008. Methods: in cross-sectional descriptive study design, CES-D with cut-off point 22 and Students Stress Survey questions were used as self-administrated to 351 first year Medical students in Hochiminh city. Chi-squared test, Spearman correlation were analyzed in bivariate analysis, binary Logistic regression used in multivariate analysis. Results: the prevalence of depression was 39.6%. The top five of stress was prone intrapersonal factors, academic environment and environmental factors. Stress scores and depression scores had positive linear relationship with r = 0.272. There were significant different between depressive symptom group and ethnicity, type of accommodation, whom the students living with, exercise practice, perception of financial status, satisfaction of relationship with parents and friends. Working with un-acquainted people, decline in personal health, increased class workload, and put on hold for extended period of time as stressors were differentiated significantly with depressive group. Among those variables, quality of relationship, and stressors as decline in personal health, fight with friend and put on hold for long time increased the risk to get depression; in contrast, living with family, practice exercise, working with un-acquainted people reduced the risk of depression with p-value<0.05 in multivariate analysis. For further study, qualitative and quantitative as longitudinal study should be conducted to determine consequences of daily hassles, level of stress and its relationship with depression in duration of Medical learning as well as in different faculty for a broader picture about depression in Medical University in Vietnam.