Behind the White Coat: Burning Bright or Burning Out? An Observational Study
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Abstract
Background: Depressive symptoms in medical students are a recent public health issue, and academic pressure, emotional exhaustion, and disturbances in lifestyle are very strong predisposing factors. Aim and Objective: To determine the trend and prevalence of depressive symptoms among undergraduate medical students by academic years, age, and gender using the PHQ-9 questionnaire. Methods: Cross-sectional observational study was conducted by using the PHQ-9 questionnaire. Information was collected from 100 students of 2nd, 4th, and final years. Age and gender profile was also noted. PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire-9) is a 9-item instrument to measure depressive symptoms during the past two weeks. Each item scored from 0 ("Not at all") to 3 ("Nearly every day"), with a total score ranging from 0 to 27. A higher score reflects more severity of depression. Results: Highest mean scores on PHQ-9 were among 5th-year students (females: 1.52, males: 1.46), reflecting a greater burden of depressive symptoms in final-year students. There was a statistically significant correlation between depression scores and academic year (Kruskal-Wallis H = 466.38, p < 0.0001), gender (Mann-Whitney U = 50863, p < 0.00001), and age (Spearman correlation = 0.41, p < 0.0001). The trend was graphically depicted with the violin, jitter and bubble plots. Fisher's Exact Test was applied for categorical comparisons. Conclusion: This study's findings provide that depressive symptoms are observed with greater frequency among final-year students and women. These findings emphasize the necessity of initiating early screening processes and psychological counselling for medical students. Longitudinal studies, proactive guidance, and organizational changes that address mental health requirements should be included in future interventions.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Nair Deepa Balasubramanian, Gayathri V, Vijunath Thilakan, Jamila Hameed
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