Assess the Prevalence of Depression among Nursing Students in a Selected College

Abstract

Nursing students, in particular, pass through many stressful situations during various stages of their academic course. In view to this, a descriptive study was undertaken to assess the prevalence of depression among nursing students. The objective of the study was to assess the prevalence of depression among nursing students and to find out the association between the prevalence of depression among college students with their selected demographic variables. Descriptive design was used and the samples were B.Sc nursing students from all year who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Purposive sampling technique was used. The data were collected through demographic variables and a Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. The data analysis revealed that depression exist among few students. Out of 181 samples, 46% of the students (83 students) had no depression. Further investigation pinpointed that 49% of the students (88 students) were suffering from mild level of depression and 5% of the students (10 students) have moderate level of depression. Meanwhile none of the students were suffering from severe depression. Regarding the association, there was a significant association between the prevalence of depression among college students with their related demographic variable such as monthly income (λ2 =15.56), physical illness (λ2 =10.77) and religion (λ2 =32.47).