Prevalence and Factors Associated with Depression among Resident Doctors in Nigeria: A Multi-Center Study

Depression is a significant contributor to the global burden of disease. Several studies have shown that depression in resident doctors is more common than that in the general population. However, data on the prevalence of depression among resident doctors in Nigeria is limited.

The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of depression as well as factors associated with depression among resident doctors.

A cross-sectional study design was employed with semi-structured questionnaires on socio-demographic and other factors associated with depression in resident doctors. The proportionate sample size in hospitals across the six geopolitical zones with multi-stage sampling and systematic random sampling technique was used to recruit resident doctors. The Beck's Depression Inventory was employed. The data was analyzed using Epi info version 3.5.3 (2011) and Stata 14. A p-value of less than 0.05 was statistically significant.

The prevalence of depression was 18.9% among the resident doctors. Negative binomial regression used showed that depression in resident doctors was significantly associated with age (IRR=1.07, 95%CI:1.01-1.13, p=0.017), female gender ((IRR=1.75, 95%CI: 1.00-3.05, p=0.049) and being a resident in the surgical specialties (IRR=2.31, 95%CI: 1.35-3.94, p=0.002), respectively.

The prevalence of depression among resident doctors showed that older age, female gender, and surgical specialties were determinants of depression.