Depression among undergraduate medical and engineering students: A comparative study

Objective: To study the depression among medical and engineering students of different medical and engineering colleges in Karachi, Pakistan. Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted at different medical and engineering colleges of Karachi from 1st March 2018 till 30th August 2018. Sample size of 362 was calculated by using software SPSS version 22. A close ended, self-administered, modified form of standardized questionnaire was used which comprised of two parts. First part included collection of socio-demographic data, second part had questions for the assessment of depression. Hamilton Depression Scale (HAM-D) was utilized in scoring the depression level in the study subjects. Results: In engineering and medical colleges 82.87% and 56.9% students were found depressed repeatedly. The result was highly statistically significant. Overall, 109 (30.1%) students were normal, 114 (31.5%) were suffering from mild, 67 (18.5%) moderate, 32 (8.8%) severe and 40 (11.0%) had very severe depression. Conclusion: In the present study, rate of depression was higher in engineering students as compared to medical students. It is recommended in future that qualitative studies of the causes of depression reducing interventions need to be encouraged in professional program, especially in engineering students.