The Prevalence and Risk Factors of Depression and Anxiety Disorders among Medical Students in King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah 2019

Author(s):

Razaz Mohammed Wali*, Talal Mohammed Bagabas, Abdulrahman Adnan Hassanein, Mohammed SaadAlameri and Khaled Fahad Al Ouqla

Background: Anxiety and depression are the most common mental health disorders worldwide. It is estimated that 4.4% of the global population suffers from a depressive disorder and 3.6% from an anxiety disorder. Depression and anxiety symptoms can manifest as a result of certain external factors. People in stressful environments and challenging workplaces tend to be vulnerable to anxiety and depression. Educational institutions are an excellent ex ample of a highly stressful environment. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 2019. A non-probability convenient sampling technique was used to select 258 medical students at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah. A con idential, anonymous, validated &self administered questionnaire included the 9-item depression scale of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) Scale was used. Results: 74.5% out of 258 students had mild to severe depression, while 69% had mild to severe anxiety. There was a signi icant association between depression and sleep disturbances (P=0.001), Grade Point Average (P=0.017), sedentary lifestyle (P=0.004), and dietary habits (P=0.001). The risk factors associated with anxiety are stressful medical school (P=0.019), GPA (P=0.014), sleep disturbance (P=0.001), sedentary lifestyle (P=0.001), and dietary habits (P=0.022). Conclusion: Depression and anxiety are prevalent among medical students at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences in Jeddah, compared to the general population and other regional colleges. The study revealed a considerable variety of in luencing factors, including sleep disturbances, GPA, sedentary lifestyle, dietary habits, and stressful medical school. The most signi icant r isk f actor a ssociated with depression and anxiety was the stressfulness of medical school.