Open AccessSurvey on Depression among Dental Professionals in Pakistan
Author(s) -
Hashmat Gul,
Abida Saleem,
Ayesha Aslam,
Ujala Liaqat,
Abdul Samad Khan
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
life and science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2708-2970
pISSN - 2521-0475
DOI - 10.37185/lns.1.1.206
Subject(s) - depression (economics) , medicine , marital status , cross sectional study , patient health questionnaire , demography , continuous variable , population , family medicine , psychiatry , environmental health , cognition , depressive symptoms , pathology , sociology , economics , macroeconomics
Objective: To assess association of depression among Pakistani dentists with demographic variables andcorrelate patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9) depression severity measure (DSM) variables.Study Design: Cross sectional study.Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out at Department of Dental Materials, Army MedicalCollege, Rawalpindi from March 2018 to October 2018.Materials and Methods: Minimum sample size of 350 was ascertained at 95% confidence level via Raosoftsample size calculator. Targeted population included 378 Pakistani dentists. Consent from Institutional ReviewBoard and study participants was taken. SPSS version 21 was utilized to analyze and interpret the collected data.Percentages were used to present categorical variables. Chi-square test was used to compare association ofDSM with demographic variables. Pearson Correlations between all PHQ-9 variables and DSM was alsoestablished. P< 0.05 was taken significant.Results: Majority of study participants were female dentists (63.2%) from Punjab (63.2%), 27-31 years old(33.3%), married (56.6%) and only BDS qualified (66.9%). Majority were M.Phil./FCPS residents (31%) with ≤ 5years' work experience (64%), working ≥48 hours/week (42.3%). Statistically significant association of DSM wasobserved with province, age, marital status, designation and experience. Statistically significant correlationswere observed between all PHQ-9 variables and DSM.Conclusion: Dentistry is dominated by young Pakistani females, majority of whom are pursuing highereducation and exhibit moderate depression. Depression is more pronounced among young, single, freshgraduates with ≤ 5 years' work experience.