Use of service and treatment adequacy in health students with depression

Our study aimed to measure the prevalence of service use and adequate treatment in health students and to compare medical, dental and pharmacy specialties.

In 2021, we conducted a survey at Université Paris Cité for dental and pharmacy students. Data for medical students came from a national study conducted during the same period, using the same procedure. We used the Composite International Diagnostic Interview Short-Form (CIDI-SF) questionnaire to evaluate the presence of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in the last year. We asked the subjects if they had consulted health professionals or used pharmacotherapy for psychological problems in the previous year.

Our sample comprised 1595 students, with very few dental students (N=76), few pharmacy students (N=187) and a vast majority of medical students. Among all students, 30% suffered from MDD, 31% used any pharmacological treatment, 16% anxiolytics, 9.5% hypnotics and 9% antidepressants. Among students with MDD, 33% received adequate treatment, including 30% recommended psychotherapy and 20% recommended pharmacological treatments. Pharmacy and preclinical students (medical students in year 2 or 3) consulted less often a psychiatrist and received less adequate treatment, recommended psychotherapy and recommended pharmacological treatments than the other students.

In our study, we found a high prevalence of psychotropic use among health students but only 33% of students with MDD received adequate treatment.

This underlines the need for better detection of psychiatric disorders in health students and improved treatment for them. Specific attention is needed for pharmacy students.