Prevalence of cases of depression in nursing students in an institution of higher education in Brasilia

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To identify cases of depression and prevalence levels in nursing students in an institution of higher education in Brasilia, Brazil. METHODS: This work is an exploratory, descriptive study, carried out from October 2010 to October 2011, with a probabilistic sample of 91 individuals, representing 30% of the students enrolled in the nursing course. A questionnaire was applied, using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The BDI consists of 21 items, including symptoms and activities at four degrees of intensity. RESULTS: All of the studied individuals presented symptoms of depression, of which 62.6% showed minimal levels of depression, 25.2% presented mild to moderate depression, 10.9% reported moderate to severe depression, and 1.1% manifested severe depression. CONCLUSION: The results contribute to advances in scientific knowledge and serve as an incentive for further research. This study showed a higher prevalence of depression in students from 17 to 23 years of age, representing 70 (72.5%) participants of the sample. Of the survey participants, 85 (93.4%) were female, revealing the prevalence of women in the nursing course. It can therefore be concluded that this institution of higher education needs to implement a psychological support program for its students.