Depression and suicidal ideations in relation to occupational stress in a sample of Egyptian medical residents

Abstract

Abstract Background Studies have suggested that medical students experience high rates of depression and suicidal ideation. However, estimates of the prevalence of depression or depressive symptoms among students vary across studies from 1.4% to 73.5% and those of suicidal ideation vary from 4.9% to 35.6%. Reliable estimates of depression and suicidal ideation prevalence during medical training are important to prevent, treat, and identify causes of emotional distress among medical students, especially in light of recent work revealing a high prevalence of depression in resident physicians Aim of the work to assess the occurrence of depression and its severity in a sample of Egyptian medical residents of Ain Shams university hospitals, as well as demonstrate the occurrence of suicidal ideations in residents and highlight relation between it and occupational stress. Patients and Methods This is a Cross sectional analytical study conducted in Ain Shams University hospitals. This present study aimed at analyzing the data of 256 medical residents graduation year 2013-2016, and at different periods of residency, 36 of which were excluded due to previous diagnosis with psychiatric illness before residency, over six months period from June 2018 to January 2019, and were screened for depression, suicidal ideations, socioeconomic stress and stressful aspects of residency. Results A total of 256 questionnaires were done by medical residents of Ain Shams University, 36 were excluded mostly due to previous psychiatric diagnosis before residency. Only 60 (27.27%) of the remaining 220 residents had normal ups and downs according to Beck depression inventory (BDI) with the rest of the 160 residents having depression of different severity ranging from mild (54, 24.55%), borderline (38, 17.27%), Moderate (51, 2.18%), severe (10, 4.55%), extreme(7, 3.18%). 50(22.7%) out of the 220 residents were considered to have high suicide risk according to beck suicidal ideation scale. Conclusion Professional and personal stress is a significant and frequently overlooked component of a resident’s life. In addition, residents are at higher risk to develop depression as studies have suggested that medical students experience high rates of depression and suicidal ideation. Intervention studies are needed, e.g. support groups, more intense coaching by senior physicians, training programs on ‘breaking bad news’ and teaching of stress management skills to study how to prevent or reverse burnout.