Prevalence of Depression, Anxiety and Stress (by DASS Scoring System) among Medical Students in Islamabad, Pakistan

Objective: To determine the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress (by DASS scoring system) among purposive sample of medical students in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Study Design: Cross-sectional survey (June, 2014 to November, 2014)
Sampling Technique: Purposive sampling (non-probability)
Methods: The questionnaire used in this study consisted of three components: A socio-demographic questionnaire that required each student to provide their age, gender and year of study, as well as marks obtained as mean % scoring in the professional examinations and DASS scale (the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale).
Procedure: Sixty-six medical students were the participants who were attending private and public medical universities in Pakistan. Following the granting of ethical approval from the university and medical college to conduct the study, medical students from first year to fifth year were contacted after purposive sampling and after the conclusion of one of their lectures. They were each given a questionnaire package to complete and return to the researcher before leaving the lecture room.
Results: The prevalence of depression was 40.9%, where 9.09% were mildly depressed, 16.67% moderately depressed, 13.64% severely depressed and 1.52% were extremely severely depressed. The prevalence of anxiety was 74.2%, where 13.64% were mildly anxious, 27.27% were moderately anxious, 19.70% were having severe anxiety and 13.64% were suffering from extremely severe anxiety. The prevalence of stress was 50%, out of which 18.18% were mildly stressed, 24.24% were moderately stressed and 7.58% were severely stressed.
Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of anxiety followed by stress and depression among the purposive sample of medical students during their academic training. Instructors, examiners, and universities should consider the stressors while assessing students on their academic basis.