BACKGROUND

Pharmacy students are at high risk of developing depressive symptoms that can adversely influence their professional future. However, there are no summarized data on the subject.

OBJECTIVE

To summarize the prevalence and incidence of depressive symptoms in pharmacy students.

METHODS

A literature search was performed using PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, LILACS, and SCOPUS databases until January 2022. We included observational studies that assessed the prevalence or incidence of depressive symptoms among pharmacy students using a validated screening instrument. Two independent investigators performed the study selection, data extraction, and quality assessment using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) checklist for prevalence studies. The estimate of depressive symptoms was summarized as a narrative synthesis using structured tables.

RESULTS

Of the 695 records retrieved in the search, 19 studies met the eligibility criteria. All were cross-sectional studies, published between 2009 and 2022. The number of pharmacy students ranged from 30 to 610. Most studies were conducted in Asia (n = 9) and the Americas (n = 7), and included only public university students (n = 12). The studies used several instruments to screen students for depressive symptoms, mainly Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (n = 7), Beck Depression Inventory (n = 5), and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale 21 (n = 4). Most studies (n = 15) evaluated only the prevalence of depressive symptoms. The estimate of overall, mild, moderate, and severe depressive symptoms ranged from 4.8% to 78.8%, 9.1% to 42.1%, 5.8% to 30.0%, and 0% to 50.0%, respectively. Regarding methodological quality, the score ranged from 4 to 7 out of 9 points according to the JBI checklist.

CONCLUSION

A high proportion of depressive symptoms were observed in pharmacy students. This finding points to the urgent need to develop strategies for screening, early identification of symptoms, and intervention to improve the mental health of students.