Prevalence of depressive symptoms among dental students is influenced by sex, academic performance, smoking exposure, and sexual orientation: cross-sectional study
Braz. j. oral sci
; 22: e239237, Jan.-Dec. 2023. tab
Article
in En
| LILACS, BBO
| ID: biblio-1399762
Responsible library:
BR218.1
ABSTRACT
Aim:
To estimate the prevalence and associated factors of self-reported depressive symptoms in undergraduate and graduate dental students.Methods:
The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) was applied, and only the depression domain was verified. A structured questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic, behavioral, and COVID-19 pandemic-related fear variables. Academic performance was assessed based on academic records, ranging from 0 (worst possible grade) to 10 (best possible grade). Respondents included 408 regularly enrolled dental students. Bi- and multivariate analyses were performed using Poisson regression with robust variance to verify the association between at least moderate depressive symptoms and independent variables.Results:
The prevalence of at least moderate depression was 40.5% among undergraduate students and 26% among graduate students. The prevalence of fear and anxiety due to the COVID-19 pandemic was 96.1% among undergraduate students and 93.5% among graduate students. In the final multivariate analysis, being female (prevalence ratio [PR]2.01; 95% confidence interval [95%CI]1.362.96) was associated with a higher PR for depression. Conversely, no exposure to smoking (PR0.54; 95%CI0.360.82) and a final academic performance average ≥7.0 (PR0.56; 95%CI0.410.76) was associated with a lower PR for depression. Finally, among graduate students, a non-heterosexual orientation was associated with a higher PR for depression (PR6.70; 95%CI2.2120.29).Conclusion:
Higher rates of depression symptoms were observed in female undergraduates, students with lower academic performance and smoking exposure, and graduate dental students with a non-heterosexual orientationSubject(s)
Key words
Full text:
1
Index:
LILACS
Main subject:
Students, Dental
/
Tobacco Use Disorder
/
Depression
/
Academic Performance
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Qualitative_research
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
En
Journal:
Braz. j. oral sci
Journal subject:
ODONTOLOGIA
Year:
2023
Type:
Article