Abstract
Background: Studies exploring the relationship between air pollution levels and mental stress have rarely been done, and no studies have been done comparing university student mental stress levels based on regional air pollution levels.Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between air pollution and mental stress among university students.Methods: Participants were 11,942 students, who were identified through a multistage survey sampling process conducted in 50 universities. Regional air pollution levels were retrieved from a national database, and mental stress was measured using a perceived stress scale. Both unadjusted and adjusted methods were utilized in the data analyses.Results: Mental stress prevalence was 36.9% (95% Confidence Interval: 24.4–49.5%). The final model indicated that regional air pollution levels were positively associated with students' mental stress.Conclusions: This study provided new and direct evidence of the health hazards of air pollution. The findings underscore the need to develop and implement stringent environmental protection policies, while simultaneously raising public awareness of environmental protection.
Highlights
Air pollution is one of the main environmental problems in many countries, especially developing countries
Studies have found that exposure to air pollution was associated with biological dysregulation, including inflammation [5], and greater risk of cardiovascular disease [6] and premature mortality [7]
Based on the results of this study, 36.9% of university residents were severely stressed. This finding was very similar to stress levels reported in urban residents
Summary
Air pollution is one of the main environmental problems in many countries, especially developing countries. Short-and long term exposures to air pollution can lead to increased human morbidity and mortality rates [1,2,3,4]. Studies have found that exposure to air pollution was associated with biological dysregulation, including inflammation [5], and greater risk of cardiovascular disease [6] and premature mortality [7]. Many experimental and observational studies suggested that exposure to air pollution was associated with mental disorders and negative behavioral outcomes. Some studies found that there were associations between air pollution and depression [8,9,10], and psychiatric emergencies [11]. Studies exploring the relationship between air pollution levels and mental stress have rarely been done, and no studies have been done comparing university student mental stress levels based on regional air pollution levels
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