ArticlePloS one2020
Prevalence of depressive symptoms among Italian medical students: The multicentre cross-sectional "PRIMES" study.
Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers.
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Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 70 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- Risk Governance in Clinical Education for Healthcare Students: A Scoping Review.The clinical teacher · 2026Article
- Perceived Stress and Subjective Happiness in Medical Students Before and After a Wellness Speaker Session.Cureus · 2026Article
- Sleep Quality and Sex-Specific Physical Activity Benefits Predict Mental Health in Romanian Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Analysis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Gamification for emergency radiology education and image perception: stab the diagnosis.Journal of medical imaging (Bellingham, Wash.) · 2025Article
- Exploring mental health of Italian college students: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Discover mental health · 2025Article
- Positive and Negative Family Relationships Correlate With Mental Health Conditions -a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Public health reviews · 2025Review
- Why do undergraduate medical students choose medical humanities? A cross-sectional study at an Italian University.BMC medical education · 2024Article
- Prevalence of Depressive Symptoms and Its Correlates among Male Medical Students at the University of Bisha, Saudi Arabia.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Teaching and mental health in medical students.Revista da Associacao Medica Brasileira (1992) · 2024Article
- Specific emotion regulation difficulties mediate the relationship between personal distress and depressive symptoms in medical students.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Depression and Anxiety among Undergraduate Health Science Students: A Scoping Review of the Literature.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- The relationship between depression, healthy lifestyle behaviors and internet addiction: a cross-sectional study of the athlete university students in Turkey.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Bending not breaking: coping among Filipino University students experiencing psychological distress during the Global Health Crisis.Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.) · 2022Article
- The effect of COVID-19 home quarantine on the psychological state of pharmacy students: a cross-sectional study.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2022Article
- The Consequences of the Pandemic on Medical Students' Depressive Symptoms and Perceived Stress: A Repeated Cross-Sectional Survey with a Nested Longitudinal Subsample.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- Prevalence and Correlates of Likely Major Depressive Disorder among Medical Students in Alberta, Canada.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression within the UNiversity community: the cross-sectional UN-SAD study.BMC public health · 2022Article
- Physical Activity, Life Satisfaction, Stress Perception and Coping Strategies of University Students in Belarus during the COVID-19 Pandemic.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Vaccine Hesitancy and Fear of COVID-19 Among Italian Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of community health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
18 authors at 12 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundFour percent of the world's population suffers from depression, which is a major public health issue. Medical students are at risk, as their depressive symptoms (DS) prevalence is reported to be approximately 27% worldwide. Since few data on Italian medical students exist, this study aimed to estimate their DS prevalence and assess risk and protective factors.
methodsThe PRIMES was a multicentre cross-sectional study performed in 12 Italian medical schools. Questionnaires were self-reported and included 30 sociodemographic items and the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). The primary outcome was the presence of DS (BDI-II score≥14). The main analyses were chi-squared tests and multivariable logistic regressions with a p-value<0.05 considered significant.
resultsThe number of collected questionnaires was 2,513 (117 BDI-II incomplete). Females accounted for 61.3% of the respondents, and the median age was 22 years (IQR = 4). The prevalence of DS was 29.5%. Specifically, 14.0% had mild depression, 11.1% had moderate depression, and 4.5% had severe depression. The main risk factors for DS were age, being female, bisexual/asexual orientation, living with partner/housemates, poor economic status (worsened by living far from home), less than 90 min of weekly exercise, relatives with psychiatric disorders, personal chronic disease, judging medical school choice negatively, unsatisfying friendships with classmates, competitive and hostile climate among classmates, thinking that medical school hinders specific activities and being worried about not measuring up to the profession. Protective factors included family cohesion, hobbies, intellectual curiosity as a career motivation and no worries about the future.
conclusionItalian medical students are at high risk of reporting DS, similar to the global population of medical students'. Medical schools must make efforts to implement preventive and treatment interventions by offering counselling and working on modifiable factors, such as lifestyle and learning climate.
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