PREVALENCE OF DEPRESSION AMONG UNDERGRADUATE FINAL YEAR PHARMACY STUDENTS

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest with manifestations such as loneliness, low self-esteem and suicidal tendencies. Objectives: To determine the prevalence of depression among final year undergraduate pharmacy students at the University of Benin, investigate the factors contributing to depression, explore the coping mechanisms and support systems utilized by pharmacy students in dealing with depression, determine if there is a gender difference in the prevalence of depression and to determine the occurrence of depression among pharmacy students faced with academic challenges. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 133 final year undergraduate pharmacy students at the University of Benin. A self administered questionnaire including Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI-II) was conveniently administered. Data analysis was done using statistical package for social sciences for descriptive and inferential statistics with a significance level of p<0.05. Results: The amount of respondents who had a risk of depression was 51(38.3%). A majority of respondents 107(80.4%), considered workload and pressure associated with pharmacy coursework to be contributors to the risk of depression, 99(74.4%) acknowledged the role of social factors such as societal expectations in increasing the risk of depression and 122(91.7%) agreed that the competitive nature of the pharmacy program serves as a risk factor for depression. 98(73.7%) respondents engaged in personal coping mechanisms, 94(70.7%) were hesitant to utilize university counseling services. The comparison of depression scores between male and female students provided a p-value of 0.761 and the association between depression scores and academic challenges provided a p-value of 0.731.