Background Whilst very limited studies have demonstrated a correlation between the COVID-19 pandemic and depressive symptoms amongst Bangladeshi medical students, the prevalence and associated factors of depressive symptoms as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) remains widely unknown. Objective The study aimed to investigate the prevalence and factors associated with depression symptoms among Bangladeshi medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown period. Method In this web-based cross-sectional pilot study, medical students’ data was collected using the Google Forms web survey platform after obtaining electronic informed consent. A total of 425 medical students were selected using a systematic sampling technique to accumulate depression symptoms and demographic and pandemic-related information. Depression was measured by a self-administered, validated English version of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) tool. The descriptive analysis utilized frequency and percentages, while the stepwise binary logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate the factors associated with depressive symptoms. Result Among 425 medical students, 62.3% were female, 97.4% unmarried. Almost 80.2% of medical students had mild to severe levels of depressive symptoms as characterized by PHQ-9. A significantly higher probability of depression was found amongst female students (adjusted OR = 1.8), those who struggled to stay away from social media (adjusted OR = 1.8), those who tried to be optimistic for maintaining better psychology (adjusted OR = 11.1), and those who always had a sleeping difficulty in the last 4 weeks (adjusted OR = 8.9). Conclusion A very high prevalence of depression symptoms among Bangladeshi medical students was found across the majority of socio-demographic variables. The alarming prevalence and associated factors of depression suggests the need for follow-intensity psychosocial interventions designed for medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, Bangladesh, Depressive symptoms, medical students, patient health questionnaire-(PHQ-9), 【초록키워드】 Depression, lockdown, cross-sectional, COVID-19 pandemic, media, Intervention, Symptom, Prevalence, Probability, female, Descriptive analysis, Mild, correlation, information, Frequency, Google, PHQ-9, Factor, Logistic regression analysis, pilot study, percentages, objective, socio-demographic, English, depressive symptom, Result, was measured, selected, form, was collected, was performed, characterized, adjusted, majority, demonstrated, significantly higher, accumulate, survey platform, variables, 【제목키워드】 student, Factor,