Depression in medical students: an approach to Brazilian student’s depression in Bolivia

Abstract

Depressive disorder affects millions of people each year, particularly to medical students. Several universities (medical schools) in Bolivia contain many Brazilian students. However, depression disorders in those students had been poorly reported. We aim to describe depressive symptoms in medical students in Bolivia and compare those symptoms between Brazilian and domestic students. To achieve that result, we conducted a cross-sectional study using the Beck Depression Inventory and demographic questions through an online survey. This survey was prepared in Google forms and distributed to medical students of the principal universities in the region, through their professors. Five hundred and nine students voluntarily participated in the study where we found that 107 participants (21.02%) have depressive symptoms. Younger medical students had higher scores in the Beck Depression Inventory (p = 0.02), and Brazilian medical students in Bolivia had lower scores than locals (p = 0.02). Finally, there were no statistical differences between depression throughout the academic year in medical school (p = 0.07). This is the first report of depression in foreign students in Bolivia. We demonstrated that approximately one-fifth of medical students in Santa Cruz, Bolivia have depressive symptoms. However, foreign students have less of these symptoms than local students.