PREVALENCE OF DEPRESSION AMONG DOCTOR OF PHARMACY (PHARM.D) STUDENTS: A DESCRIPTIVE CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY FROM PAKISTAN

Authors

  • madeeha malik Hamdard Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences Hamdard University Islamabad Pakistan
  • ayisha hashmi
  • Azhar Hussain

Abstract

University students may be at increased risk of depression owing to the pressure and stress they encounter during their studies. Pharmacy education in Pakistan includes strenuous study for 5 years. The demands of the degree program may adversely affect the mental health of the students. Objective: The present study was designed to assess depression among Doctor of Pharmacy students studying at Hamdard University, Islamabad, Pakistan. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used. A pre-validated tool PHQ-9 was self-administered to a sample of 400 Pharm.D students studying at Hamdard University, Islamabad campus. After data collection, data was cleaned coded and entered in SPSS version 21.0. Descriptive statistics comprising of frequency and percentages was calculated. The non-parametric tests including Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Walis (p ≥ 0.05) were performed to find out the difference among different variables. Results:  The results of the current study reported mild depression among Pharm.D students. A significant difference (p ≤ 0.05) was found among mean depression scores of different Pharm. D professional years. However, no significant difference (p ≥ 0.05) was found among mean depression scores among of different genders, age groups, cities, medium of instruction and parent’s income level. Conclusion: The results of the present study concluded that majority of the students had minimal symptoms of depression. Minor depression was observed among students studying in second professional year. The results are quite encouraging as only a few students were suffering from mild and severe depression in spite of the high level of academic pressure and stress faced by students in pharmacy schools.

References

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How to cite this article:

Madeeha Malik, Ayisha Hashmi, Azhar Hussain; Prevalence of depression among Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D) Students: A descriptive cross-sectional study from Pakistan; Panacea Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences 2018:7(3);99-120.

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Published

2018-09-30

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Original Research Article