Page 69 - JCBP-2-3

Journal of Clinical and
Basic Psychosomatics Depression among medical students and doctors

study conducted with doctors. Researchers found a and the non-random sampling method employed in our
negative correlation between total resilience scores and study suggest that our data may not fully represent the
depression. Long years of service, specifically more than entire target population. In future studies, it would also
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20 years of service, are indicated as one of the protective be important to categorize and analyze medical students
factors in one of the studies. Biological markers, such as based on their academic years of study. In addition, it
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telomere length, could serve as helpful tools for identifying would be necessary to separately analyze residents, and it
stress in health-care professionals. The study reported would also be valuable to analyze groups of doctors based
that during the internship, telomere length significantly on their specialization or age.
shortens, and this shortening is six times greater than
typical telomere shortening in other populations. Greater 5. Conclusion
telomere shortening among doctors is associated with Half of medical students and one-third of doctors
longer working hours, a stressful family environment, and exhibited symptoms of depression. Regular screening for
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neuroticism. The biological and cultural aspects should mental health among health-care professionals, along
not be excluded from further research on doctors’ health. with interventions aimed at improving mental well-being,
It is known that depression rates tend to increase globally. holds paramount importance within medical education
For example, a study conducted in Norway comparing and practice. Recognizing and addressing barriers within
the well-being of medical students in 2015 to those who the medical community that discourage seeking help and
studied at the same faculty from 1993 to 1999 found engaging in preventive initiatives are crucial steps toward
that the well-being of students in 2015 was significantly improving doctors’ mental health outcomes and ensuring
worse. In Lithuania, there is also a trend of increasing high-quality care.
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depression symptoms, with rates rising from 12.4% in
2014 to 18.1% in 2019. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Acknowledgments
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more cases of depression have emerged globally. To better The authors thank all the respondents who willingly
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understand the prevalence of depression among healthcare participated in the survey.
professionals and compare it with the general population
of other countries, it would be important to conduct Funding
international studies during the same period and use the None.
same screening instruments.
It is essential to implement effective interventions to Conflict of interest
improve emotional well-being in medical study programs The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
and healthcare systems. Various educational and skill-
building interventions can have a positive impact. Author contributions
One such example is an intervention like the 8-week
mindfulness course for doctors, which has been shown Conceptualization: All authors
to improve patient safety and reduce errors compared to Formal Analysis: Kamile Pociute
a group of doctors who did not undergo this mindfulness Investigation: All authors
training. Special mobile apps also show a positive effect Methodology: All authors
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on the mental health of healthcare professionals. For Writing – original draft: Kamile Pociute
example, researchers conducting a randomized trial found Writing – review & editing: Sigita Lesinskiene
that a mobile app designed to reduce burnout significantly Ethics approval and consent to participate
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reduced burnout scores compared to the control group.
Future studies should investigate the benefits and Ethics board approval was deemed not necessary for this
effectiveness of implementing interventions aimed at study since participation was voluntary, and the research
medical students and doctors, as well as combinations of posed no health risks to participants.
various interventions. Consent for publication

This study encountered several limitations. It is
important to acknowledge that the PHQ-9 functions Not applicable.
primarily as a self-report screening tool rather than Availability of data
a diagnostic instrument. Therefore, scores exceeding
validated thresholds may not always indicate clinically Data used in this work are available from the corresponding
significant depression. Furthermore, the small sample size author on reasonable request.

Volume 2 Issue 3 (2024) 6 doi: 10.36922/jcbp.3570