Abstract
BackgroundWhilst very limited studies have demonstrated a correlation between the COVID-19 pandemic and depressive symptoms amongst Bangladeshi medical students, the prevalence and associated factors of depressive symptoms as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) remains widely unknown.ObjectiveThe study aimed to investigate the prevalence and factors associated with depression symptoms among Bangladeshi medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown period.MethodIn this web-based cross-sectional pilot study, medical students' data was collected using the Google Forms web survey platform after obtaining electronic informed consent. A total of 425 medical students were selected using a systematic sampling technique to accumulate depression symptoms and demographic and pandemic-related information. Depression was measured by a self-administered, validated English version of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) tool. The descriptive analysis utilized frequency and percentages, while the stepwise binary logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate the factors associated with depressive symptoms.ResultAmong 425 medical students, 62.3% were female, 97.4% unmarried. Almost 80.2% of medical students had mild to severe levels of depressive symptoms as characterized by PHQ-9. A significantly higher probability of depression was found amongst female students (adjusted OR = 1.8), those who struggled to stay away from social media (adjusted OR = 1.8), those who tried to be optimistic for maintaining better psychology (adjusted OR = 11.1), and those who always had a sleeping difficulty in the last 4 weeks (adjusted OR = 8.9).ConclusionA very high prevalence of depression symptoms among Bangladeshi medical students was found across the majority of socio-demographic variables. The alarming prevalence and associated factors of depression suggests the need for follow-intensity psychosocial interventions designed for medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic
Highlights
As of December 23, 2021 the COVID-19 crisis has overwhelmed healthcare systems worldwide and resulted in over 5.3 million deaths and 273 million infections [1]
The study findings revealed that the prevalence of mild to severe depressive symptoms was high in medical students, and factors such as gender, struggling to get away from social media, and having sleep disturbances in the preceding 4 weeks were significantly associated with depressive symptoms
80.2% of medical students had mild to severe levels of depressive symptoms, which was comparable to findings from Bangladesh (49.1%), India (74.6%) and Brazil (64.41%) but higher than those reported from Nepal (5.5%) and Iran (25.6%) [3, 3, 5, 10, 19, 20]
Summary
As of December 23, 2021 the COVID-19 crisis has overwhelmed healthcare systems worldwide and resulted in over 5.3 million deaths and 273 million infections [1]. The mental health and well-being of health care workers have been impacted during the COVID-19 outbreak, with an increased prevalence of anxiety, fear, depression, and insomnia reported. Reasons for higher anxiety and depressive symptoms reported by health care workers during the pandemic include extended work shifts, higher risk of infection, lack of adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) and prolonged separation and isolation from families and friends [2]. During the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, 64.4% of medical students reported depressed symptoms using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), whereas, in India, it was 44.89% using the DASS-21 [5, 9]. Whilst very limited studies have demonstrated a correlation between the COVID-19 pandemic and depressive symptoms amongst Bangladeshi medical students, the prevalence and associated factors of depressive symptoms as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) remains widely unknown
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