Analysis of Factors Influencing Depressive Mood: A Focus on Medical Students in Targeted Employment

Objective

To study depression and its influencing factors in medical students with directed employment in medical schools.

Methods

In this study, 586 students enrolled in Wenzhou Medical University were studied, and the Patient Health Questionnaire Depression Scale (PHQ-9) was used to distinguish depressed mood from depressive symptoms and to establish a multivariate logistic regression model.

Results

Up to 60.9% of the survey respondents experienced depressive mood within two weeks, and 21.6% experienced mild or higher depressive symptoms. The majority of the students showed only depressive mood (64.5%), and depressive symptoms accounted for a small percentage (35.5%). The detection rate of depressive mood within 2 weeks was higher in female students (70.4%) than in male students. Medical specialty, whether or not students were directed medical students, whether or not students performed directed employment, being an only child, monthly living expenses, financial status, health status, personality, and self-perceived academic stress were significant factors (P< 0.05) associated with depressed mood among university students. In this study, non-medical students were more likely to experience depression (P< 0.001). Depression was higher among non-directed medical students (P< 0.001). Among medical students with directed employment, those with non-compliance intention had a greater risk of depression (P< 0.01). Medical students with depressed mood tended to self-regulate (82.1%) and had a less significant tendency to choose medication (25.3%).

Conclusions

With a high detection rate of depressive mood and symptoms and most students presenting only with depressive mood, early detection and interventions for depressive mood are essential to prevent deterioration of the target students’ condition.