Depression, Anxiety and Stress among Undergraduate Students: A Cross Sectional Study

Choon Khim Teh,Rashidatul Aniyah Binti Zulkifli,Choon Wei Ngo,Rammiya Vellasamy,Kelvin Suresh

doi:10.4236/ojepi.2015.54030

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of moderate to extremely severe level of depression, anxiety and stress among undergraduate students in Malaysia was ranging from 13.9% to 29.3%, 51.5% to 55.0% and 12.9% to 21.6% respectively. Medical students have been shown to be more inclined to emotional disorders, especially stress and depression, as compared to their non-medical peers. Therefore, the objective of this cross-sectional study was to determine the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among undergraduate students in Melaka Manipal Medical College. Methods: Self-administered questionnaires consisted of 3 sections: demographic data, socioeconomic data and DASS 21 questions. Data processing was performed using Microsoft Excel 2010. The psychological status was categorized according to the presence or absence of depression, anxiety and stress. The data were analyzed using Epi InfoTM 7.1.4 and SPSS. Student’s t-test, Fisher Exact and Chi-square test were used to analyze the associations. P-value of <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Multiple logistic regression was used to calculate the adjusted Odd Ratio. Results: A total of 397 undergraduates participated in this study. The prevalence of the depression, anxiety and stress, ranging from moderate to extremely severe, was 30.7%, 55.5%, and 16.6% respectively. Multiple logistic regression shows significant associations between relationship status, social life and total family income per month with depression. Only ethnicity has been shown to be significantly associated with anxiety. There are significant associations between ethnicity and total family income per month with stress. No other factors have been found to be significantly associated. Conclusion: Depression, anxiety and stress have a high detrimental effect to individual and society, which can lead to negative outcomes including medical dropouts, increased suicidal tendency, relationship and marital problems, impaired ability to work effectively, burnout and also existing problems of health care provision. With that, there is a need for greater attention to the psychological wellbeing of undergraduate students to improve their quality of life.

Highlights

According to WHO definition, “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” [1]
Poor mental health will lead to many life threatening diseases such as cardiovascular disease deaths, deaths from external causes or even cancer deaths, which was only associated with psychological distress at higher levels [2]
The objective of the study is to determine the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among undergraduate students in Malaysia

Summary

Introduction

According to WHO definition, “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” [1]. Depression, anxiety and stress levels in the community are considered as important indicators for mental health. The prevalence of moderate to extremely severe level of depression, anxiety and stress among undergraduate students in Malaysia was ranging from 13.9% to 29.3%, 51.5% to 55.0% and 12.9% to 21.6% respectively. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to determine the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among undergraduate students in Melaka Manipal Medical College. Multiple logistic regression shows significant associations between relationship status, social life and total family income per month with depression. There are significant associations between ethnicity and total family income per month with stress. Conclusion: Depression, anxiety and stress have a high detrimental effect to individual and society, which can lead to negative outcomes including medical dropouts, increased suicidal tendency, relationship and marital problems, impaired ability to work effectively, burnout and existing problems of health care provision. There is a need for greater attention to the psychological wellbeing of undergraduate students to improve their quality of life

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion