Gender difference in depression and suicidal ideation of medical students

Aim: to assess the gender difference in frequency of depression and suicidal ideation in students in the initial years of medical study study design: descriptive cross-sectional study place and duration of study: lahore medical & dental college (lmdc) lahore,in july 2016. methods: six items kutcher adolescent depression scale was used to screen second year medical students for depression and suicidal ideation. depression was established if total score of kads-6 was either 6 or more.data was entered,cleaned and analysed in spss version 22. association of gender of participants with depression and suicidal ideation was ascertained by applying chi square test,with p≤0.05 as cut off point for statistical significance. results: among 114study participants,58(51%) were male,56 (49%) were female and 72(63%) were depressed. among depressed students,30(52%) were male and 42(75%) were female (p= 0.01). symptoms like perceived loss of fun in life was felt by 67% males and 71% females (p 0.02) and nervousness and tension were experienced by 62% males and 89% females (p<0.01).suicidal thoughts were present in higher number of female students (32%) compared with males (17%),though this difference was not statistically significant. conclusion: multi-center studies are required to establish the gender differential in depression among female and male medical students that was highlighted in the present study. interventions like increased individual counseling for students,faculty education,and identification and management of depressed students need to be created in medical schools. � 2016,lahore medical and dental college. all rights reserved.