The Levels of Stress and Depression among Interns and Clerks in Three Medical Centers in Taiwan – A Cross-sectional Study

Background: Depression and heavy stress have been reported as two important problemsfor medical students in previous studies; and stress and depression levelswere also related to gender and grades. The aims of this article were to investigate the emotional problems of Taiwanese interns and clerks, and to clarifytheir relationship to work circumstances, identity of interns and clerks in thehospitals, gender discrepancy and their levels of stress and depression.Methods: Three medical centers in Taiwan were selected in this study. All interns inthe three medical centers and clerks in Chang Gung Memorial Hospital wereinvited to complete an anonymous self-report questionnaire. The questionnaire included demographic data, levels of various stresses in hospitalsrecorded with visual analog scales, and a Chinese version of Zung’s Selfadministered Depression Scale. One-way analysis of variance was alsoadopted to compare the distress scores, and the Scheffe test was chosen forthe post hoc comparisons.Results: First, working in different medical centers was not a factor influencing levelsof stress and depression of interns. Second, interns had higher stress levels of“work loading” and “occupational risks”, and more depressive symptoms,such as “poor sleep quality”, “poor appetite”, “libido loss”, “body weightloss”, and “anhedonia”. However, identity did not significantly impact levelsof depression. Third, gender discrepancy showed significant influences onsome stress sources and depressed symptoms.Conclusions: When comparing some depressive symptoms and stress sources among medical students, differences of gender and identities were statistically significant. Further longitudinal studies are needed.