Prevalence of depression among Chinese medical students: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The prevalence of depression continues to increase among medical students in China, and higher than that of other majors, which is a potential risk for medical students and their patients. This study aimed to observe the prevalence of depression in Chinese medical students and also the correlation between them. All cross-sectional studies on the prevalence of depression in Chinese medical students were retrieved from PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CNKI, and Wanfang. An 11-item checklist recommended by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality was adopted to evaluate the methodological quality of the included studies. Software Stata 12.0 was used to analyze the data. Registration: PROSPERO, CRD42020169681. The prevalence of depression among medical students in China was 27%. The subgroup analysis showed significant differences in the prevalence of depression in different regions. The sleep quality was a significant heterogeneous source of depression. Medical students with sleep disorders were more than three times as likely to report depression. The prevalence of depression in Chinese medical students is relatively high, and medical students with sleep disorders are more likely to have depression problems. Regular screening and appropriate intervention are recommended for these mental health problems.