Depression among Medical Students in Saudi Arabia in the last three years: a review

Depression is a mental state characterized by persistent low mood and anhedonia for two weeks or more. It is estimated that 3.8% of the population is affected. The primary purpose of our study was to review the prevalence and risk factors of depression among medical students in Saudi Arabia. A systematic search was performed through PubMed and Saudi Digital Library databases. The legibility of the articles was assessed by checking the source's reliability. Any article that discusses the association of depression during the COVID-19 pandemic in medical students or any articles that examine another psychiatric illness with depression were excluded. The prevalence of depression among medical students in Saudi Arabia ranged from 14.7% to 55.8%, with a mean prevalence of 35.25%. Various questionnaires were used to evaluate depression, and the extracted data, which revealed that medical students tend to have mild to severe depression, was summarized. The findings of this review suggested that the high depression rate among female medical students was due to differences in psychological, biological, social, and family factors. Being in clinical years, having a psychiatric history and significant life events, having long travel time from home to university, being a parent, and non-Saudi increase the risk of depression in medical students.