Gender Differences and Prevalence of Mental Health Problems in Students of Healthcare Units

The aim of the present was to assess and compare the mental health of male and female healthcare students in a Health University of Karachi, Pakistan. A cross-sectional study was conducted for which questionnaire was designed along the standard scoring scales of depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7) and phobia (IAPT) completed by 300 enrolled students. Females (52%) of the medical institute suffered from mild to moderately-severe depression in contrast to the males (33%). Females were found to be affected by mild anxiety and phobia (42.7 and 26% respectively) exceeding the male population (27.3 and 15.3% respectively). However, severe depression or anxiety was not observed in either gender groups significantly, suggesting a healthy mental picture of these medical students. It can be concluded that health care students in modern upgraded education systems, in contrast to evidence from literature, have been able to adopt better coping mechanisms for maintaining their mental health.