Friday, Jul 24, 2026 The claims desk. Receipts included. POWERED BY LENZ ↗
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HEALTH

The Claim

A 2025 study at Babol University of Medical Sciences in Iran found that 64.6% of medical science students exhibited depressive symptoms as measured by the DASS-21 scale.

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The Short Version

No available evidence supports this highly specific claim. The only 2025 study linked to Babol University of Medical Sciences in the evidence record used the GHQ-12 instrument — not the DASS-21 — and reported no 64.6% depressive-symptom prevalence. The most rigorous meta-analytic data on Iranian medical students estimates overall depression prevalence at approximately 43%, making the claimed figure a significant outlier with no identifiable source.

Caveats

  • The only Babol University 2025 study in the evidence record used the GHQ-12 instrument, not the DASS-21 as the claim states — the specific instrument-statistic-institution combination cannot be verified.
  • The claimed 64.6% prevalence substantially exceeds the ~43% pooled estimate from systematic reviews of depression among Iranian medical students, and no source corroborates this figure.
  • The claim may conflate or fabricate details from multiple real studies; readers should not cite this statistic without locating and verifying the original publication.

The Receipts

  1. Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21): Further psychometric exploration using robust item response theory and classical theory measures among university students - PubMed

    PubMed

  2. The prevalence of depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbances among medical students and resident physicians in Iran: A systematic review and meta-analysis | PLOS One - Research journals

    PLOS One - Research journals

  3. The prevalence of depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbances among medical students and resident physicians in Iran: A systematic review and meta-analysis - PMC

    PMC

  4. The prevalence of depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbances among medical students and resident physicians in Iran: A systematic review and meta-analysis - PubMed

    PubMed

  5. Exploring Connections Between Mental Health, Burnout, and Academic Factors Among Medical Students at an Iranian University: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study

    JMIR Med Educ

  6. Stress, anxiety, and depression among medical students in a multiethnic setting - PMC

    PMC

  7. How Medical Students Manage Depression, Anxiety, and Stress: A Cross-Sectional Study

    JMIR Form Res

  8. Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21): Further psychometric exploration using robust item response theory and classical theory measures among university students | PLOS One - Research journals

    PLOS One - Research journals

  9. Measurement invariance of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 across medical student genders - PMC

    PMC

  10. Prevalence of Depression and Related Factors among International Medical Students at Tehran University of Medical Sciences | Journal of the Faculty of Medicine Baghdad

    Journal of the Faculty of Medicine Baghdad

+ 2 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

Babol University of Medical SciencesDASS-21 scaleIran

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