Assessment of depression, anxiety, and stress among medical students enrolled in a medical college of New Delhi, India

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress among medical students. Materials and Methods: Students underwent face-to-face interview using predesigned, pretested, anonymous interview schedule using standardized survey instrument and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21 item. Information was also collected on sociodemographic, academic profile, and personal characteristics of students. All the students enrolled in the medical college from first to final year were invited to participate, and the study was conducted during mid-semester to ensure that there was no university examination or college festival/event. Results: A total of 187 students participated in the study giving a response rate of 94%. The participants were predominantly male (66%) and majority (65.8%) residing in hostel. It was noted that 7.5% reported parental conflict; 15.0% were “always” fearful about future life; 21.9% had poor relationship with family members; 22.5% were not satisfied with their body image; and 18.7% were globally dissatisfied. It was observed that 60 (32.0%), 75 (40.1%), and 82 (43.8%) students were affected by symptoms suggestive of depression, anxiety, and stress, respectively. On bivariate analysis, higher proportion of students with anxiety had a history of some medical condition (P < 0.05). Similarly, family history of chronic noncommunicable disorder was significantly (P < 0.05) associated with stress only while students with family history of mental illness had a higher proportion of depression (P < 0.05) only. It was also found that dissatisfaction with body image and global dissatisfaction with life was statistically (P < 0.05) associated with depression and anxiety while fair (poor) relationship with family members was statistically (P < 0.05) associated with depression only. Subjective (self) assessment of ability to cope with medical syllabus was inversely associated (P < 0.01) with ability, i.e., as the student's ability to cope with syllabus increases by one unit, the probability of occurrence of depression and anxiety decreases by 1.29 units and 0.71 units, respectively. Conclusion: It is noted that emotional distress is common among medical students, and there is an urgent need for attention, support, and personalized counseling.