Prevalence of depression and its associated factors among undergraduate admission candidates in Bangladesh: A nation-wide cross-sectional study

• Published in: PloS one 2023-11, Vol.18 (11), p.e0295143-e0295143
• Main Authors: Siddik, Md Abu Bakkar, Hasan, Md Nafiul, Mahmud, Al, Munmun, Morioum Sarkar, Milad, Mahmudul Hasan, Ali, Akher, Ahmed, Zobayer, Uddin, Md Jamal
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analysis; College students; Computer and Information Sciences; Depression, Mental; Diagnosis; Forecasts and trends; Health aspects; Health care reform; Health surveys; Medicine and Health Sciences; People and Places; Psychiatric services; Psychological aspects; Risk factors; Social Sciences; Stress (Psychology); Surveys
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0295143

The undergraduate admission test is one of the most stressful assessments in a student's life, as it is required for admission to any of Bangladesh's public universities or medical colleges. Those taking the admissions test are under a lot of pressure to perform well. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of clinical depression among Bangladeshi admission candidates and the factors that contribute to it. Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and other socio-demographic information were collected from 5263 students from all over Bangladesh. Apart from descriptive statistics and chi-square tests, an ordinal logistic regression model was also applied to determine the factors associated with depression. The study revealed that among the undergraduate admission applicants, 74% of individuals were affected by depression, while 26% experienced moderate depression, 26% experienced moderately severe depression, and 22% experienced severe depression. The level of depression among females was 1.8 times higher than the male admission candidates. Our analyses found that gender (p