Assessment of depression and health-related quality of life in veterinary medical students: Use of the 2-item primary care evaluation of mental disorders questionnaire (PRIME-MD PHQ) and the 8-item short form-8 survey (SF-8)

Depression and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) are major concerns affecting veterinary students' well-being. Shorter versions of instruments to assess depression and HRQOL are timesaving and preferable. To the authors' knowledge there are no studies available that assess HRQOL in veterinary students. The objectives of this study were to screen veterinary students for depression during two semesters using a 2-item Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders Procedure Health Questionnaire (PRIME-MD PHQ), and to assess HRQOL over two semesters using the Optum Short Form-8 (SF-8) Health Survey. A cohort of 273 students from two classes were invited to complete the PRIME-MD PHQ and the SF-8 survey during the fall semester of their first year, and again in the spring semester of the second year. Descriptive statistics, factor analysis, multiple regression, and logistic regression were used to perform data analysis. The proportion of students with symptoms of depression was high, ranging from 37.4% to 56.8% between the two classes. The SF-8 survey indicated a mental component summary (MCS) score of <50, indicating poor mental health for both classes, whereas the physical component summary (PCS) was >50, suggesting good physical health. Female students (p ¼ .043) had low MCS scores compared to males. Students from both classes had lower MCS scores in spring compared to fall (p ¼ .019). The PRIME-MD PHQ and the SF-8 were acceptable instruments for assessing depression and HRQOL in veterinary students, respectively.