Assessment of Depression status and its impact on academic performance of undergraduate medical students of Bangladesh

Abstract

Background: Mental health is essential for the well-being of both individuals and communities. Undergraduate medical students travel medical course with tremendous psychological stress because of new environment, language difficulties, curricular overload and frequent examinations. This may hamper their academic performance and mental strength. This study aimed to assess the depression status and academic performance of undergraduate medical students of Bangladesh.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed among 1921 undergraduate medical students from five medical colleges in Bangladesh, who were selected using convenience sampling method. The study was conducted from July 2023 to June 2024. For assessment of depression level Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) was used. The academic performance of the students was self-reported by students as passed (regular/irregular) MBBS professional examinations.

Results: It was found that out of 1921 medical students, 18.4%, 34.6%, 27.6%, 14.5% and 4.8% had minimal, mild, moderate, moderately severe and severe depression respectively. Various sociodemographic factors were discovered to have an impact on different categories of depression severity. The combined percentages of moderate depression and moderately severe depression and mean depression scores were found significantly higher among female students than the male medical students. But the severe depression was significantly higher in male students than the female students. Majority of the participants passed regularly (>90%) in their professional examinations. Different categories of depres- sion level have been observed to have an impact on academic performance.

Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that undergraduate medical students experience varying levels of depres- sion. Various socio-demographic factors have been found to be significantly associated with different levels of depressive status. Additionally, academic performance has been shown to be influenced by these various levels of depression. There- fore, it is essential to address depression in order to enhance their academic success and mental resilience, ultimately leading to the development of competent physicians who can serve the community effectively.

CME J 2025; 4(2):16-26