PERCEIVED FACTORS INFLUENCING DEPRESSION AMONG ESUT MEDICAL STUDENTS

ABSTRACT

The study investigated perceived factors influencing depression among Esut medical students, using a simple random technique, 108 medical students comprising 51 males and 57 females studying in Esut College of Medicine in the departments of Chemical pathology-pediatrics, community medicine and surgery in Enugu state in eastern Nigeria, were drawn to participate in the study. The participants were living in a hostel and must have stayed up to two years and above. They were aged 17-36 years. Zung (1965) self-rating depression scale to measure feelings of depression based on survey design while chi-square was applied to analyze the data. The findings revealed a significant difference between observed and expected frequencies on sleeplessness through the night (stress/anxiety) factor -x2(df,1) = 48 at p<.001 and restlessness as perceived factors influencing depression among medical students x2 (df,1) = 7.26 at P<.01 level of significance. This implies that feeling of depression among medical students was highly expressed and manifested very strongly when sleeplessness and restlessness as symptoms were quite dominant. The result was discussed in relation to literature. 

Keywords: Perceived Factors, Depression, Influence, and Medical Students