Religion, Spirituality, and Depressive Symptoms in Primary Care House Officers

Yi, Michael S.; Luckhaupt, Sara E.; Mrus, Joseph M.; Mueller, Caroline V.; Peterman, Amy H.; Puchalski, Christina M.; Tsevat, Joel

doi:10.1016/j.ambp.2005.10.002

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Volume 6, Issue 2 , Pages 84-90, 1 March 2006

Religion, Spirituality, and Depressive Symptoms in Primary Care House Officers

Presented in part at the Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting, San Francisco, Calif, May 2004.

Michael S. Yi, MD, MSc
- Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
- Institute for the Study of Health, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
- Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
- Address correspondence to Michael S. Yi, MD, MSc, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Division of General Internal Medicine, Section of Outcomes Research, PO Box 670535, Cincinnati, OH 45267-0535
Sara E. Luckhaupt, MD
- Institute for the Study of Health, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Joseph M. Mrus, MD, MSc
- Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
- Institute for the Study of Health, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
- Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
- HSR&D Service, Cincinnati Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Caroline V. Mueller, M
- Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
- Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Amy H. Peterman, PhD
- Center on Outcomes, Research and Education, Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, Evanston, IL
Christina M. Puchalski, MD
- Department of Medicine, George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC
- George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health, Washington, DC
Joel Tsevat, MD, MPH
- Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
- Institute for the Study of Health, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
- HSR&D Service, Cincinnati Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio

Received 18 April 2005; accepted 5 October 2005.

Objective

The arduous nature of residency training places house officers at risk for depression. We sought to determine the prevalence of depressive symptoms in pediatric (PED), internal medicine (IM), family medicine (FM), and combined internal medicine-pediatric (IMPED) house staff, and spiritual/religious factors that are associated with prevalence of depressive symptoms.

Methods

PED, IM, FM, and IMPED residents at a major teaching program were asked to complete a questionnaire during their In-Training Examination. Depressive symptoms were measured with the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Independent variables included demographics, residency program type, postgraduate level, current rotation, health status, religious affiliation, religiosity, religious coping, and spirituality.

Results

We collected data from 227 subjects. Their mean (SD) age was 28.7 (3.8) years; 131 (58%) were women; 167 (74%) were white; and 112 (49%) were PED, 62 (27%) were IM, 27 (12%) were FM, and 26 (12%) were IMPED residents. Fifty-seven house officers (25%) met the criteria for having significant depressive symptoms. Having depressive symptoms was significantly associated (P< .05) with residency program type, inpatient rotation status, poorer health status, poorer religious coping, and worse spiritual well-being. In multivariable analyses, having significant depressive symptoms was associated with program type, poorer religious coping, greater spiritual support seeking, and worse spiritual well-being.

Conclusions

Depressive symptoms are prevalent among house officers and are associated with certain residency program types and with residents’ spiritual and religious characteristics. Identifying residents with depressive symptoms and potentially attending to their spiritual needs may improve their well-being.

Key words: depression , house staff , religion , residency , spirituality