Abstract:
High prevalence of depression and depression symptoms among medical students has
been reported in various studies. Coping strategies for depressive symptoms, however,
is a phenomenon in which few studies in low income countries have addressed. This
study, therefore, aimed to establish depression coping strategies and use of mental
health services (Counselling and medical) among Kenyan university medical students.
Through stratified random sampling, 312 students from two public universities were
proportionately recruited with a further subsample of 20 students proportionately and
randomly selected from the main sample to take part in the qualitative phase of the
study. This mixed method research study, adopting a descriptive cross-sectional survey
design used Biographical Form and a Structured Interview Schedule for data collection.
Descriptive statistics was used to analyse lifetime prevalence, use of counselling and
medical services. Descriptive and qualitative analysis were used to examine depression
coping strategies. Results revealed that a minority of the medical students reported
using counselling (8.9%) and medical (40.8%) services to manage depression. Majority
reported seeking help from their peers (90%) and using alcohol (80%) and sports (50%).
The study concluded that the lifetime depression prevalence rate is high and students
use both functional and dysfunctional coping strategies to manage depressive
symptoms. Medical education and mental health stakeholders, therefore, need to
psycho-educate students on depression and functional coping strategies and augment
targeted interventions including; enhancing peer education programmes, and de-
stigmatising mental health services to improve their well-being.
