Depression among Resident Doctors in Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Abstract: In developing countries, little evidence is available on the mental health status of health care providers, especially doctors. Therefore, the aim of this study is to obtain an estimation on the prevalence of depression amongresident doctors of medical universities in Tehran, Iran. Method: The study population consisted of 2251 resident doctors who worked in the hospitals of 3 medical universities located in Tehran.Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was used as the main instrument of thisresearch Results: The response rate was 68.28%.31.2% of the total study population had symptoms of depression (26% of the males and 39% of the females).Symptoms of depression were 2.3 times more frequent in females. Mostdepressed physicians did not have a history of psychiatric visit or treatment.Conclusion: This study demonstrates that depression is common among Iranian residents(particularly in females); however, most of them do not seek any treatment. This may lead to serious impacts on health behavior of the community in general.Moreover, depression may seriously affect physicians professional function.