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Prevalence of Depression among Undergraduate Pharmacy Students in

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 ISSN 0975-2366
DOI:https://doi.org/10.31838/ijpr/2020.12.03.282
Research Article

Prevalence of Depression among Undergraduate

Pharmacy Students in Malaysia
NAJLAA SIHAM MOHAMED YUSOF1, ZAINOL AKBAR ZAINAL2*, HASNIZA ZAMAN HURI3, SABRINA
ANNE JACOB4, MUHAMMAD NAJIB MOHAMAD ALWI5, YAHAYA HASSAN6, ROSNANI HASHIM7,
IZYAN A. WAHAB8, AINA YAZRIN ALI NASIRUDDIN9, NURUL ASHIKIN JAMLUDIN10, AMELAH
MOHAMMED ABDUL QADER11, SHAIRYZAH AHMAD HISHAM12, NURDIANA JAMIL13, CHIN SHIN
CHEE14, LIANA NAZURAH GHAZALI15
1
Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Cyberjaya, Cyberjaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
2
Faculty of Medicine, University of Cyberjaya, Cyberjaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
3
Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
4
University of Strathclyde, Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, Glasgow, United
Kingdom.
5
Faculty of Medicine, Management and Science University, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.
6
Faculty of Pharmacy, Management and Science University, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia.
*Corresponding Author
Email ID: zainol.akbar@cyberjaya.edu.my
Received: 10.03.20, Revised: 16.04.20, Accepted: 24.05.20

ABSTRACT
This study aimed to determine prevalence of depression among undergraduate pharmacy students in Malaysia
and its factors. A cross-sectional web-based questionnaire was distributed through email and social media
platforms to 19 institutions offering Bachelor of Pharmacy (Hons.) in Malaysia. Students were assessed using
Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-42 (DASS-42). A total of 610 pharmacy students participated in this study
resulted in a response rate of 20.3%. Pearson’s Chi square test was used to determine the association between
different demographic groups. One-way ANOVA and independent T-test were used to evaluate the difference in
depression scores between groups. Based on the depression scores, this study found that 47.4% (n=289) were
having depression of different severity. Most of the students presented with moderate depression (18.9%, n=115)
followed by mild (14.1%, n=86), severe (7.7%, n=47) and a few students were found to have very severe
depression (6.7%, n=41). Compared to students who did not have depression, students who smoke, have
separated parents, with family history of mental illness, had recent loss of someone close, and with lower CGPA
were statistically significantly associated with depression. This study concluded that depression is highly
prevalent among pharmacy undergraduate students in Malaysia. Strategic approaches among various
stakeholders mainly the higher education providers are urgently needed to prevent further complications of
mental health issue.
Keywords: Mental Health, Depression, Pharmacy Students, university, Malaysia.

INTRODUCTION Development Goals (SDG) indicators by Malaysia

Depression is an emotional and mental disorder
that can cause lack of interpersonal, social and
occupational functioning1 which are characterized
by low mood, fatigue and inability to enjoy life 2.
Around 350 million people are suffering from
depression with an increase of more than 18%
between 2005 and 2015 which is equivalent to
4.4% of the world’s population3. The South-East
Asia region has the highest percentage of
depression cases. The 2015 National Health and
Morbidity Survey (NHMS) reported that the
prevalence of mental health problems among
adults 16 years and above in Malaysia was as
high as 29.2%4. Mental health has now been
given a priority because of significant shift of
increasing mental health issues among young
adulthood5,6. It is also now being used as one of
the important mental haelth Sustainable
government7.
University students reported twice as much stress
as general adult population related to academic
performances and personal life changes8. The
prevalence of depression among university
students around the world ranged from 21% to
47%9,10,11,12,13,14. Studies have shown that medical
students had higher anxiety and depression cases
compared to students from other fields15. However,
a recent study among pharmacy students reported
high level of stress leading to low quality of life16.
Depression can be influenced by many factors
including socioeconomic status17, place of study1,
financial constraint18 and also relationship
instability12. Endless exam19 and course work20,
and lack of leisure time12 may increase the
incidence of depression among pharmacy
students. In Pakistan, pharmacy students in private
universities (53.3%) have higher prevalence of

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 Najlaa Siham Mohamed Yusof et al / Prevalence of Depression among Undergraduate Pharmacy
Students in Malaysia
depression compared to public universities
(49.7%)21.
However, depression among students are widely
undiagnosed and untreated due to stigma, fear of
misunderstanding22 as well as inadequate mental
health resources23. There are limited studies about
depression among pharmacy students in Malaysia
and its association with student-related factors
including academic achievement, living
environment and family factors. The primary
objective of this study was to determine the
prevalence of depression among undergraduate
pharmacy students in Malaysia and its factors.
MATERIAL AND METHOD
This cross-sectional study was conducted using
web-based questionnaire from August 2018 to
September 2018. Students were sampled via
purposive sampling method. Students were
included if they consented to participate and were
currently active undergraduate pharmacy students
studying at any of the 19 institutions offering
Bachelor of Pharmacy (Hons.) in Malaysia during
the period of this study. Students with known
history of clinical depression and who did not
complete the questionnaires were excluded from
analyses. Based on a database acquired from the
institutions, there were approximately 3,000 active
undergraduate pharmacy students from the 19
institutions offering Bachelor of Pharmacy (Hons.)
in Malaysia.
Representatives from each institution were
approached via email and social media platforms.
The representatives were informed about the
research and agreed to share the link to the
questionnaires to their colleagues. The link was
also posted on the Malaysian Student Pharmacy
Association (MyPSA) official Facebook® page.
Reminder emails were sent every 2 weeks between
August to September 2018 to increase the
response rate.
The web-based questionnaire consisted of 22
demographic questions and 14
depression-related questions which were extracted
from the original 42-item Depression Anxiety
Stress Scale (DASS-42). The questionnaire used
was in English language and has been adopted
and adapted from previous study done by
Shamsuddin et al., (2013); Vignola & Tucci (2014)
and Yusoff et al., (2013)12,24,25. Demographic data
collected includes age, gender, alcohol
consumption, cigarette smoking or vaping habit,
recreational drug usage, ethnicity, religion, place
of residence, marital status, current year of study,
institution, scholarship status, CGPA, and family
monthly income. Other variables such as
pharmacy degree as first choice to study, family
2034| International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research | Jul- Sep 2020 | Vol 12 | Issue 3
history of mental illness, recent loss of someone
close within the past 1 year, presence of medical
condition, current use of medication, opinions on
likely cause of depression and ways to overcome
depression were collected as well. The students
were asked to rate the depression symptoms they
experienced over the past 1 week.
Each item was scored on a 4-point Likert scale (0
= Did not apply to me at all, 1 = Applied to me to
some degree, or some of the time, 2 = Applied to
me to a considerable degree, or a good part of
time, and 3 = Applied to me very much, or most
of the time). Based on the guidelines, scores of 0
to 9 were considered ‘normal’, 10 – 13 were
considered mild depression, 14 – 20 were
considered moderate depression, 21 – 27 were
considered severe depression and 28 and above
were considered very severe deprssion26.
All the data collected from the questionnaire were
summarized using Microsoft Excel and analyzed
using Statistical Packaged for Social Sciences (SPSS)
version 23.0 for Windows. The statistical
significance was set at p < 0.05. All descriptive
data were expressed as percentage. Pearson’s Chi
square and Fisher’s Exact test were used to
analyze the association of the tested demographic
characteristics and the prevalence of depression
among undergraduate pharmacy students in
Malaysia. The mean depression score was
compared between various group of the tested
variables using one-way ANOVA and independent
T-test.
All aspects of the study protocol, including the
ethics involved, were reviewed and approved by
the CUCMS Research Ethics Review Committee
(CRERC) (CUCMS/CRERC/ER/109). All data
collected were kept private and confidential and
were only accessible by the principal researcher.
RESULTS
A total of 610 pharmacy students participated in
this study resulted in a response rate of 20.3% (n=
610/3000). The distribution of students according
to their demographic is as presented in Table 1.
Majority of the participated pharmacy students
were age ranged between 20 and 24 years old
(n=512, 84%), do not consumed alcohol (n=571,
93%), do not smoke (n=602, 99%) nor use
recreational drugs (n=604, 99%), living at
students’ hostels (n=318, 52%), and not married
(n=572, 94%). The participated students were
mostly from public universities (n=367, 60%), had
no scholarship for the pharmacy degree program
(n=436, 72%), had good CGPA (n=306, 50%)
and one-third family monthly income between
RM2000 and RM5000.
 Najlaa Siham Mohamed Yusof et al / Prevalence of Depression among Undergraduate Pharmacy
Students in Malaysia

Table 1: Demographic Profile of Participated Undergraduate Pharmacy Students (n = 610)

Demographic data Frequency Percentage (%)

Age 18 – 20 years old 78 12.8
20 – 24 years old 512 83.9
25 – 29 years old 20 3.3
Gender Male 98 16.1
Female 512 83.9
Ethnicity Malay 500 82.0
Chinese 61 10.0
Indian 36 5.9
Others 13 2.1
Religion Islam 511 83.8
Buddha 48 7.9
Hindu 29 4.8
Christian 14 2.3
Others 8 1.3
Alcohol consumption Yes 39 6.4
No 571 93.6
Cigarette smoking or vape Yes 8 1.3
No 602 98.7
Recreational drug usage Social user 4 0.7
Regular user 2 0.3
No 604 99.0
Current place of residence Home 152 24.9
Hostel 318 52.1
Rental house 139 22.8
outside campus
Others 1 0.2
Marital status Single 572 93.8
Married 2 0.3
Divorced 1 0.2
In a serious 35 5.7
relationship
Current year of study Year 1 127 20.8
Year 2 149 24.4
Year 3 143 23.4
Year 4 191 31.3
Current institution Public 367 60.2
Private 243 39.8
Scholarship Yes 174 28.5
No 436 71.5
CGPA 2.00 – 2.99 95 15.6
3.00 – 3.49 306 50.2
3.50 – 4.0 209 34.3
Family monthly income < RM 2,000 132 21.6
RM 2,001 – RM 182 29.8
5,000
RM 5,001 – RM 121 19.8
8,000
> RM 8,000 175 28.7

Among the 610 students, nearly half of them (n= 18.9% had moderate depression, 7.7% had
289, 47.4%) was found to have depression. Of severe depression and 6.7% had very severe
these, 14.1% of the students had mild depression, depression. Based on the tested demographic

2035| International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research | Jul- Sep 2020 | Vol 12 | Issue 3
 Najlaa Siham Mohamed Yusof et al / Prevalence of Depression among Undergraduate Pharmacy
Students in Malaysia

characteristics of participating pharmacy students, more students not depressed among those who
smoking status, parents’ marital status, pharmacy did not smoke, consistent with significant higher
degree as first choice degree, CGPA status, family mean depression score in students who smoke
history of mental health, comorbidities and recent cigarettes or vape (18.50, SD= ±10.24), p <
loss of someone close were found significantly 0.05) (Table 3).
associated with depression (Table 2). There were
Table 2: Characteristics of Pharmacy Students based on DAS-42 Score (n = 610)
Demographic Characteristics Depression p
No Yes value
Age < 20 years old 50 28 0.08 a
(64.1%) (35.9%)
20 – 24 years old 262 250
(51.2%) (48.8%)
25 – 29 years old 9 11
(45.0%) (55.0%)
Gender Male 56 42 0.33 a
(57.1%) (42.9%)
Female 265 247
(51.8%) (48.2%)
Alcohol consumption Yes 17 22 0.24 a
(43.6%) (56.4%)
No 304 267
(53.2%) (46.8%)
Cigarette smoking or vape Yes 1 7 0.03 b
(12.5%) (87.5%)
No 320 282
(53.2%) (46.8%)
Recreational drug usage Yes 1 5 0.11 b
(16.7%) (83.3%)
No 320 284
(53.0%) (47.0%)
Ethnicity Malay 257 243 0.20 a
(51.4%) (48.6%)
Non-Malay 64 46
(58.2%) (41.8%)
Religion Muslim 261 250 0.08 a
(51.1%) (48.9%)
Non-Muslim 60 39
(60.6%) (39.4%)
Place of residence Hostel 173 145 0.36 a
(54.4%) (45.6%)
Non-hostel 148 144
(50.7%) (49.3%)
Marital status Single 305 267 0.18 a
(53.3%) (46.7%)
Non-single 16 22
(42.1%) (57.9%)
Parents’ marital status Still together 292 244 0.01 a
(54.5%) (45.5%)
Separated/ divorced/ 29 45
widowed (39.2%) (60.8%)
Pharmacy degree as first choice to study Yes 217 168 0.02 a
(56.4%) (43.6%)
No 104 121
(46.2%) (53.8%)
Current year of study Year 1 76 51 0.32 a
(59.8%) (40.2%)
Year 2 75 74

2036| International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research | Jul- Sep 2020 | Vol 12 | Issue 3
 Najlaa Siham Mohamed Yusof et al / Prevalence of Depression among Undergraduate Pharmacy
Students in Malaysia

(50.3%) (49.7%)
Year 3 71 72
(49.7%) (50.3%)
Year 4 99 92
(51.8%) (48.2%)
Current institution Public 195 172 0.80 a
(53.1%) (46.9%)
Private 126 117
(51.9%) (48.1%)
Scholarship Yes 90 84 0.78 a
(51.7%) (48.3%)
No 231 205
(53.0%) (47.0%)
CGPA 2.00 – 2.99 40 55 0.01 a
(42.1%) (57.9%)
3.00 – 3.49 156 150
(51.0%) (49.0%)
3.50 – 4.00 125 84
(59.8%) (40.2%)
Family monthly income < RM5,000 157 157 0.18 a
(50.0%) (50.0%)
> RM5,000 164 132
(55.4%) (44.6%)
Family history of mental illness Yes 21 36 0.01 a
(36.8%) (63.2%)
No 300 253
(54.2%) (45.8%)
Recent loss of someone close within the Yes 72 88 0.03 a
past 1 year (45.0%) (55.0%)
No 249 201
(55.3%) (44.7%)
Medical condition Yes 61 85 0.003
a
(41.8%) (58.2%)
No 260 204
(56.0%) (44.0%)
a
Pearson’s Chi square test
b
Fisher’s Exact test
Table 3: Difference in mean depression score based on DAS-42 between groups (n=610)
Demographic characteristics Mean Score p-value
(±SD)
b
Age 18 – 20 years old 8.58 (±7.52) 0.05
20 – 24 years old 11.20 (±9.39)
25 – 29 years old 12.50 (±10.18)
Gender Male 10.37 (±9.46) 0.54 a
Female 11.01 (±9.19)
Alcohol consumption Yes 11.26 (±8.83) 0.80 a
No 10.88 (±9.27)
a
Smoking cigarettes or vape Yes 18.50 (±10.24) 0.05
No 10.80 (±9.18)
Recreational drug usage Social user 17.75 (±14.08) 0.11b
Regular user 20.50 (±14.85)
No 10.83 (±9.17)
b
Ethnicity Malay 11.22 (±9.30) 0.003
Chinese 6.92 (±6.70)
Indian 12.19 (±10.74)

2037| International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research | Jul- Sep 2020 | Vol 12 | Issue 3
 Najlaa Siham Mohamed Yusof et al / Prevalence of Depression among Undergraduate Pharmacy
Students in Malaysia

Others 13.92 (±8.27)

b
Religion Islam 11.26 (±9.27) 0.001
Buddha 6.75 (±6.82)
Hindu 10.84 (±10.84)
Christian 5.93 (±5.51)
Others 15.63 (±9.94)
Current place of residence Home 11.28 (±8.80) 0.26 b
Hostel 10.24 (±8.64)
Rental house outside campus 11.99 (±10.83)
Others 15.00 (±0.00)
Marital status Single 10.83 (±9.25) 0.58 b
Married 10.50 (±9.20)
Divorced 2.00 (±0.00)
In a serious relationship 12.46 (±9.10)
a
Parents’ marital status Still together 10.53 (±8.98) 0.02
Separated/divorced/ 13.64 (±10.53)
widowed
a
Independent T-test
b
One-way ANOVA with post hoc analysis
Table 4
a
Pharmacy degree as students’ first choice Yes 9.90 (±8.39) 0.001
to study No 12.62 (±10.31)
Current year of study Year 1 9.54 (±8.36) 0.30 b
Year 2 11.36 (±9.45)
Year 3 11.48 (±8.70)
Year 4 11.03 (±9.95)
Current institution Public 10.51 (±8.64) 0.21 a
Private 11.50 (±10.05)
Scholarship Yes 10.60 (±9.00) 0.60 a
No 11.03 (±9.33)
b
CGPA 2.00 – 2.99 13.58 (±10.28) 0.001
3.00 – 3.49 11.27 (±9.49)
3.50 – 4.00 9.15 (±7.95)
Family monthly income < RM2,000 11.35 (±9.31) 0.36 b
RM2,001 – 11.22 (±8.97)
RM5,000
RM5,001 – 9.56 (±8.82)
RM8,000
> RM8,000 11.17 (±9.70)
a
Family history of mental illness Yes 15.33 (±10.45) 0.001
No 10.45 (±8.98)
a
Recent loss of someone close within the Yes 12.53 (±9.68) 0.01
past 1 year No 10.33 (±9.01)
a
Medical condition Yes 10.16 (±8.88) 0.001
No 13.26 (±9.94)
On medication Yes 13.03 (±10.24) 0.06 a
No 10.61 (±9.05)
a
Independent T-test
b
One-way ANOVA with post hoc analysis

There was also a significant higher number of not
depressed students with still together parents
supported by higher mean depression score
(13.64 (±10.53), p < 0.05) in students with
divorced parents. Pharmacy students were also not
depressed among those who selected pharmacy
as their first choice degree. Mean depression score
was found significantly higher among those with
pharmacy degree not their first choice degree
(12.62, SD= ±10.24), p < 0.05). Consistent with
pool of students who are not depressed with
higher CGPA (Table 2), pharmacy students with
lower CGPA (2.00 – 2.99) had higher mean
depression (13.58, SD= ±10.28) compared to

2038| International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research | Jul- Sep 2020 | Vol 12 | Issue 3
 Najlaa Siham Mohamed Yusof et al / Prevalence of Depression among Undergraduate Pharmacy
Students in Malaysia
high achiever students with CGPA 3.50 – 4.00
(9.15, SD= ±10.28) (Table 3). Similar to higher
pool students’ numbers who were not depressed
among those with no family history of mental
illnesses, no recent loss of someone close and with
no comorbidities. These associations were
supported with significantly higher mean
depression score for pharmacy students with
family members having mental health problems
(15.33, SD= ±10.45), had recent loss (12.53,
SD= ±9.68) and students with medical conditions
(13.03, SD= ±10.24).
Meanwhile, there were statistically significant
differences in mean depression score between age
groups, ethnicities, and religions(p < 0.05) (Table
3). The mean depression score among the
students between 25 and 29 years of age is higher
(12.50, SD= ±10.18) compared to other age
group. Across different ethnicities, the mean
depression score for Bumiputera living in Sabah
and Sarawak was reported to be the highest
(13.92, SD= ±8.27) followed by Malay (11.22,
SD= ±9.30), Chinese (6.92, SD= ±6.7) and
Indian (12.19, SD= ±10.74) living in Peninsular
Malaysia. Among different religions, students of
other religiosity were found to score the highest
mean depression score compared to Islam,
Buddha, Hindu and Christian religions.
DISCUSSION
This study provides a snapshot of current
depression prevalence among Malaysian
undergraduate pharmacy students. Several tested
variables such as smoking, academic of choice
and achievement, and family environment may
play significant roles in the depression
development. These variables are potentially
preventive in nature and efforts to identify and
implementing depression prevention program are
highly desirable to avoid future harm. Smoking
was generally more prevalent in mental illnesses
population compared to general population27.
Similar finding by Lyvers, Thorberg, Dobie, &
Reginald (2008) reported that smokers had
significantly higher level of depression score
compared to non-smokers28. There are studies
found that mental health problems can be
improved with smoking abstinence. In Czeh
Republic study involving 3775 depression patients
enrolling into smoking cessation clinic had
significant improvement of depression after 1-year
follow-up29. Smoke-free policies and campaigns
can be successfully conducted at universities in
some European and Asian countries and had
positive impact on behaviour30. Regular physical
activities had been associated with better mental
health which can be used by universities
concurrently with smoke-free campaign31,32.
2039| International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research | Jul- Sep 2020 | Vol 12 | Issue 3
Another interesting finding related to depression in
this study is the choice and decision to undertake a
pharmacy program as their future career. In this
study, there was a statistically significant
association between pharmacy degree as students’
first choice to study and depression. Students who
had chosen pharmacy degree as their first choice
were less depress and had lower mean depression
score in contrast to students who did not. Until now,
there is no specific study that investigate the
association between the career path choice and
depression in pharmacy students. A study in
Jordan among nursing students found that
students who chose nursing as their career
because of family decisions were significantly
more depressed than those who did not33. Another
study undertaken for medical students found that
students who were pressured to become doctors
and expected to gain much money were both
more anxious and more depressed (p < 0.05)34.
Both studies show that when the program of
choice was not from the students’ interest, there
might be some complications affecting students’
mental health state.
While becoming a student in university can be full
of new experiences and marks an exciting journey
towards a career, satisfaction on decision making
of the intended degree in addition to subsequent
smooth transition from secondary school to
university increases the chances of students’
academic achievement and persistence. Educators
need to realize that the first-year of university life is
prudent to expose new students having various
backgrounds and whether or not it is their first
choice degree to a very supportive, motivational
and clear educational goals. Workplace learning,
experiential learning, inter-professional and
team-based learning exposed as early as in the
first-year university students can increase students’
retention and satisfaction towards degree
program35.
The design and delivery of pharmacy curriculum
and its assessment methods should be carefully
strategized to cater for students with high potential
to get depressed. Depression among pharmacy
student was partly caused by academic stressors
namely frequent examinations, quizzes and
assignments36. The present findings where lower
CGPA students had higher mean depression score
is consistent with a local study conducted at
University of Malaya involving 273 pharmacy
students which found academic performance was
correlated with stress37. The most frequently
reported stress was related to academic matters.
Depressed students commonly showed reduced
concentration, loss of interest and loss of energy
and eventually affect their academic
performances38. Appropriate remediation
strategies can be developed and implemented
 Najlaa Siham Mohamed Yusof et al / Prevalence of Depression among Undergraduate Pharmacy
Students in Malaysia
targeting to students who are at risk or already
known with mental health issues to help them
improve academic functioning39.
Family factors which include history of mental
illness and separated parents are prone to get
depression than students with no family history
and parents who remained married. Family history
remains the single stronger predictor of mental
illnesses where offspring of parents with major
depressive disorder have one-in-three risk
developing severe mental illness themselves40.
Other studies show children that going through
parental divorce can give negative impact on
child’s mental health41,42. In addition, students with
medical condition were found to have depression
compared to students who did not have any
medical condition. Early preventive program
efforts by the university could be introduced to
address a wide variety of concerns from academic
to interpersonal relationship in order to detect and
wane early signs of depressive symptoms among
at risk students. The preventive programs can
include stress management course to
body-mind-stress-reduction (BMSR) techniques
such as yoga, breath work, meditation and
mindfulness43.
This study also showed there were significant
depression among the races and religion groups
of Malaysian undergraduate pharmacy students.
Further post hoc analysis was done using
Bonferroni test and the result showed that there
were statistically significant difference in mean
DASS-42 score between Malay with Chinese
groups (p = 0.003) and Chinese with Indian
groups (p = 0.04), meanwhile for religion there
was a statistically significant difference in mean
depression scores between Islam with Buddha
groups (p = 0.01). Our findings are similar to the
findings reported in NHMS in 2015 where
Bumiputera which includes Malays and natives of
Sarawak and Sabah were reported to have highest
prevalence of mental health problem at 16.5%.
This can be explained partly that different cultures
have different background understanding and
approach when facing stressors in daily life
activities. A study conducted among 622 medical
students in Malaysia found that negative religious
coping, rather than positive religious coping, has
significant association with depressive and anxiety
symptoms44. Religious coping is one of the
important strategies used to cope with stressful
situations where positive coping is associated with
mental health benefits while negative coping leads
to poorer consequences.
This study identified a few methodological
limitations. Firstly, the nature of the web-based
questionnaire itself where response rate is highly
likely to be low. However, this study managed to
achieve an acceptable response rate. The second
2040| International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research | Jul- Sep 2020 | Vol 12 | Issue 3
limitation was that there was no focus on any
interventions that could benefit the students who
were having depression.
CONCLUSION
Generally, the prevalence of depression among
Malaysia undergraduate pharmacy students was
high as nearly half of the students were found to
have certain degree of depression. This study
highlights that depression was associated smoking
status, parents’ marital status, pharmacy degree
as first choice degree and CGPA. Other
characteristics such as age, ethnicity, religion,
family history of mental illness, recent loss of
someone close in the past 1 year and having
known medical condition have higher mean
depression score. Various parties including
policymakers, higher education providers, and
parents could come together and formulate
appropriate preventative strategies to overcome
this issue among future pharmacists and
eventually ensure continuous quality of healthcare
delivery to the Malaysian population.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This study would like to acknowledge all
representatives and pharmacy students from the
19 institutions who willingly participated in this
study.
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