Evaluation of the Correlation between Spiritual Health and Depression in Dental Students of Clinical Stage in 2020

Introduction: The widespread prevalence of depression in society is one of the biggest concerns today. Spiritual health affects depression and plays an important role in improving the quality of life. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between spiritual health and depression in general and residency dental students of Islamic Azad  University of Medical Sciences Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 166 students  of 5th semester and higher were selected through census. Demographic questionnaires of Palutzian and Ellison spiritual health questionnaire and Beck depression questionnaire were used to collect data. Participants' information was entered into PASS statistical software version 11 and data analysis was performed using ANOVA tests and correlation coefficients. Results: In the study, 166 students were included by census. Among all the factors measured, marital status had a direct and significant relationship with spiritual health (P=0.022). Moreover, the history of physical and mental illness had an inverse and significant relationship with spiritual health (P=0.034). Educational status and history of physical and mental illness had a statistically direct and significant relationship with depression (P=0.014, P=0.064). People who had no history of physical or mental illness and were married had higher spiritual health, and people who studied in higher semesters and had a history of physical and mental illness had more depression. Finally, spiritual health and depression showed an inverse and significant relationship (P≤0.0001). Conclusion: A study of the results obtained from dentistry students showed that there was a significant and inverse correlation between spiritual health and depression.