The Association Between Physical Symptoms and Depression Among Medical Students in Egypt

Completed

• Conditions: Depression Anxiety Disorder; Physical Disorders

• Registration Number: NCT06820814
• Lead Sponsor: Cairo University

Brief Summary

To examine the association between depression and physical symptoms among medical students in Egypt.

Detailed Description

The Google Form will be open for one week from the start of the academic term. It is divided into three parts:

Demographic Data - which includes age, academic level, relationship status, and whether the student intends to work while studying.

Patient Health Questionnaire PHQ-9: Assesses symptoms of poor mental health in the two weeks prior to the start of term.

Patient Health Questionnaire PHQ-15: This is a measure of physical symptoms felt in the week prior to the commencement of the academic term.

The questionnaire will be distributed among different medical faculties in Egypt and all students will be required to fill it out. Data analysis will be done through SPSS to explore the relationship between psychological and physical symptoms.

Study Timeline

• Status Verified: 2025-02
• Study First Submitted: 2025-02-06
• Study First Submitted QC: 2025-02-06
• Study Start: 2025-02-08
• Study First Posted: 2025-02-11
• Primary Completion: 2025-02-15
• Study Completion: 2025-02-20
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-02-21
• Last Update Posted: 2025-02-24

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 155

Inclusion Criteria

• Medical students enrolled in any medical program in Egypt.
• Age range: Typically 19 to 30 years (or based on your study's demographic focus).
• Willingness to participate and provide informed consent.
• Self-reported symptoms of depression: Those who indicate moderate to severe symptoms on screening tools (e.g., PHQ-9).
• Physical symptoms: Those who report experiencing physical symptoms (e.g., headaches, fatigue, gastrointestinal discomfort, etc.) on a checklist.

Exclusion Criteria

• Non-medical students (students outside of the medical program).
• Students with a history of major medical conditions that may confound the physical symptoms (e.g., chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, or neurological disorders).
• Students with a diagnosed psychiatric disorder (e.g., bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, etc.) or those already undergoing psychiatric treatment.
• Non-consenting individuals: Students who decline to participate in the study or do not provide informed consent.
• Incomplete responses: Students who fail to provide adequate or valid responses in the questionnaires.

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
PATIENT HEALTH QUESTIONNAIRE (PHQ-9)	1 week	The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) used for screening, diagnosing, monitoring, and measuring the severity of depression.; It consists of nine questions; Each item is scored from 0 (Not at all) to 3 (Nearly every day), leading to a total score ranging from 0 to 27.; Scores can be categorized as follows: 1-4: Minimal or no depression 5-9: Mild depression 10-14: Moderate depression 15-19: Moderately severe depression 20-27: Severe depression
PATIENT HEALTH QUESTIONNAIRE PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS (PHQ-15)	1 week	PATIENT HEALTH QUESTIONNAIRE PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS (PHQ-15) used to assess the severity of somatic (physical) symptoms.; Consists of 15 common physical symptoms (e.g., stomach pain, dizziness, fatigue).; Each symptom is rated based on how much it has bothered the individual in the past 7 days.; Scoring system: 0 = Not bothered at all; 1. = Bothered a little; 2. = Bothered a lot Total score range: 0 to 30 Minimal: 0-4 Low: 5-9 Medium: 10-14 High: 15-30

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Cairo University; 🇪🇬 Cairo, Giza, Egypt