AccScience Publishing / JCBP / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/jcbp.3570
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Assessment of depressive symptoms among medical students and doctors using PHQ-9

Kamile Pociute1,2 ,  Sigita Lesinskiene1*
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1 Clinic of Psychiatry, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
2 Mental Health Centre, Karoliniškės Polyclinic, Vilnius, Lithuania
JCBP 2024, 2(3), 3570 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcbp.3570
Submitted: 3 May 2024 | Accepted: 6 June 2024 | Published: 5 July 2024
© 2024 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Medical students and doctors are at increased risk of experiencing depression. Doctors exhibit varying severity of depression symptoms at different stages of their careers. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of depressive symptoms among medical students and doctors using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). We conducted a cross-sectional study in Lithuania from February to March 2024, using an anonymous online questionnaire that collected demographic data and included the PHQ-9. A score of ≥10 indicated criteria for depression. The questionnaire was completed by 146 respondents, comprising 77 medical students and 69 doctors or resident doctors. Overall, 40% of respondents met the criteria for depression, including 48% of medical students and 32% of doctors. Medical students had a higher mean PHQ-9 score compared to doctors, and the difference in PHQ-9 scores between students and doctors was significant (P = 0.045). No significant differences were found in PHQ-9 scores between genders (P = 0.430) or among respondents living in different city sizes (P = 0.780). Our data align with the literature findings that medical students exhibit higher depression scores than doctors. The study underscores the importance of regularly monitoring the emotional well-being of medical students and doctors and implementing interventions to improve their emotional health.

Keywords
Medical students
Doctors
Residents
PHQ-9
Depression
Prevalence
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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