Prevalence and associated factors with depressive symptoms in health sciences students from a private university in Lima, Peru 2010

Authors

  • Reneé Pereyra-Elías Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas, Lima, Perú. Sociedad Científica de Estudiantes de Medicina de la Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (SOCIEMUPC), Lima, Perú. Estudiante de Medicina.
  • Javier Ocampo-Mascaró Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas, Lima, Perú. Sociedad Científica de Estudiantes de Medicina de la Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (SOCIEMUPC), Lima, Perú. Estudiante de Medicina.
  • Vera Silva-Salazar Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas, Lima, Perú. Estudiante de Medicina
  • Eduardo Vélez-Segovia Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas, Lima, Perú. Sociedad Científica de Estudiantes de Medicina de la Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (SOCIEMUPC), Lima, Perú. Estudiante de Medicina.
  • A. Daniel da Costa-Bullón Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas, Lima, Perú. Estudiante de Medicina.
  • Luis Miguel Toro-Polo Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas, Lima, Perú. Sociedad Científica de Estudiantes de Medicina de la Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (SOCIEMUPC), Lima, Perú. Estudiante de Medicina
  • Joanna Vicuña-Ortega Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas, Lima, Perú. Sociedad Científica de Estudiantes de Medicina de la Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (SOCIEMUPC), Lima, Perú. Estudiante de Medicina

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17843/rpmesp.2010.274.1522

Keywords:

Depression, Students, Health Occupations, Medical Students, Peru

Abstract

Introduction. Depressive symptoms in health sciences students are common, these might be potentially detrimental. Objectives. To determine the prevalence of depressive symptoms and its associated factors in students from the Health Sciences faculty of the Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas in Lima (Peru), June 2010. Materials and methods. Cross-sectional analytic study; a pre-consented survey was applied to the population 590/869 students. Zung’s abbreviated scale was used to measure depressive symptoms. To evaluate de associated factors, logistic regression was used, p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results. The mean age was 18.97 ± 2.45 years and 71.1% were women, 19.6% were migrants and 62.5% were medical students. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 31.2% in the whole population and in medical students was 33.6%. Depressive symptoms were not associated in bivariate analysis with sex, career, having failed a course, living alone or being a migrant (p>0.05). In the multivariate analysis, significant statistical association was found between depressive symptoms and dissatisfaction with the own academic performance (OR=2.13 CI95%1.47-3.08), dissatisfaction with the current economic status (OR=1.93 CI95%1.24-2.99) and living with a relative external to the nuclear family (OR=1.62 CI95%1.07-2.45). Conclusion. A high prevalence of depressive symptoms was found, especially in medical students; being dissatisfaction with academic performance, economic status and living with a relative external to the nuclear family associated factors that could be taken into account in order to build preventive programs.

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Published

2010-12-23

Issue

Section

Research Articles

How to Cite

1.
Pereyra-Elías R, Ocampo-Mascaró J, Silva-Salazar V, Vélez-Segovia E, da Costa-Bullón AD, Toro-Polo LM, et al. Prevalence and associated factors with depressive symptoms in health sciences students from a private university in Lima, Peru 2010. Rev Peru Med Exp Salud Publica [Internet]. 2010 Dec. 23 [cited 2024 Oct. 15];27(4). Available from: https://rpmesp.ins.gob.pe/index.php/rpmesp/article/view/1522

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