ABSTRACT
Background: There is a growing increase in the burden of mental health disorders with great impact on health, social and human rights as well as having great consequences in all countries. Depression which is one of the mental disorders is a common health problem among university students Purpose: This study is aimed at assessing the knowledge, prevalence and factors associated with depression among undergraduate medical students in the University of Benin, South-South Nigeria. Material and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used for this study. The sample population consisted of medical students of the University of Benin in 200level to 600level with a sample size of 434. A questionnaire with four (4) sections constituting; socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge of Depression, Prevalence using the Becks Depression Inventory and the risk factors of depression was used Results: the age group was within 15-39 years and 268 (61.8%) of respondents were within the age group of 20-24 with the mean age being at 22.3. More than half 226(52.1%) of the respondents were females while males constituted 208 (47.9%) of the respondents, Among the respondents, 83 (19.1%) were in 200L, 164 (37.8%) in 300L, 77 (17.7%) in 400L, 63 (14.5%) in 500L and 47 (10.8%) in 600L. Overall knowledge score for depression was good at 85%. There was a significant relationship between knowledge of depression and age (χ 2 = 15.830, p=0.003) and study level (χ 2 =25.107, p=0.000) of the respondents. A prevalence of depression among the respondents was 85 (19.6%) and the relationship between age group and prevalence was statistically significant (χ 2 =9.964, - 2 - p=0.041). The risk factors that were significantly related were, alcoholism, use of psychoactive drugs, heartbreak, sexual abuse, poor interpersonal relationship with colleagues, financial problems and death of a loved one. Conclusion: In this study, the knowledge of depression among medical student is high, the prevalence is worrisome, and the risk factors ranges from social, economic, psychological, medical family, medical and academic factors.
