STUDY OF DEPRESSION AMONG INDIAN COLLEGE YOUTHS

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR:
Dr. Raghav Arora,
Department of Psychiatry,
Smt. B.K. Shah Medical Institute & Research Centre,
Sumandeep Vidyapeeth,
Piparia, Waghodia Road,
Vadodara, Pincode – 391760.
Email- drraghav_arora@yahoo.com

BACKGROUND: Depression, the most common disorder in psychiatry, affects about 121 million people worldwide. World Health Organization states that depression is the leading cause of disability as measured by Years Lived with Disability and the fourth leading contributor to the global burden of disease. Today, depression already is the second cause of disability adjusted life years in the age category 15-44 years. There is paucity of studies done in undergraduate students in our country.AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To find out the prevalence of depression among undergraduate students and finding correlation between various demographic variables and depression. Cross sectional study carried on 1066 under graduate students of medical, dental, engineering and basic science branches. METHODS AND MATERIAL: CRF (containing demographic details) & Beck Depression Inventory Scale-II were given. Students’ ≥18years of all academic years were included in the study. Statistical Analysis used were multiple ANOVA test and student t test.RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of depression was found to be 26.54%. More males (29.75%) than females (23.36%) (P value=.0001).  Highest depression was found in basic Science undergraduate students (34.53%) followed by engineering undergraduate students (22.82%) followed by MBBS students (18.99%) and least in dental undergraduate students (17.54%) (P value=.00003). Students living at hostel (24.10%) showed least depression and maximum depression was found in students living at private rooms (31.54%) (P value= .0002).There is a need to diagnose and treat undergraduate students with depression at an early stage. This will help them to overcome their difficulties and lead a healthier life.

KEY WORDS: depression, undergraduate students, medical, dental, engineering, basic science.