Ward Krista L, Koen Kallop, Fernando Sergio Tony, Smith Monica
J Chiropr Educ. 2023 Mar 1;37(1):1-6. doi: 10.7899/JCE-21-30.
Health professional students' mental health and lifestyle behaviors may impact their personal health as well as their clinical practice. The objective of our retrospective study was to see if there were changes in students' mental health and lifestyle behaviors during their doctor of chiropractic program (DCP).
In 2019, we identified health center files for 198 students who graduated from our DCP between 2015 and 2016, of which 69% (n = 137) contained Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) consent forms granting permission for file review. From each of these files, we extracted mental health and lifestyle behavior data that students self-reported at the beginning and end of their DCP. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, paired t test, sign test, and McNemar's chi-square test.
The majority of our students reported drinking alcohol, engaging in regular exercise, and not smoking at the beginning and end of our DCP. Comparing pre and post data, there was a statistically significant increase in water, fruit, and vegetable consumption along with an increased proportion of students reporting eating junk food and drinking 1 or more servings of caffeine (p ≤ .002). The proportion of students reporting anxiety or depression decreased between the beginning and end of our DCP (p = .002).
This study provided information about student mental health and lifestyle behaviors at 1 DCP. We recommend future studies use validated questionnaires across multiple DCPs. There also may be a need for intervention research to decrease DCP student alcohol use.
健康专业学生的心理健康和生活方式行为可能会影响他们的个人健康以及临床实践。我们这项回顾性研究的目的是了解在整脊医学博士课程（DCP）期间，学生的心理健康和生活方式行为是否发生了变化。
2019年，我们找出了198名在2015年至2016年期间从我们的DCP毕业的学生的健康中心档案，其中69%（n = 137）包含《健康保险流通与责任法案》（HIPAA）同意书，允许查阅档案。从这些档案中的每一份，我们提取了学生在DCP开始和结束时自我报告的心理健康和生活方式行为数据。数据采用描述性统计、配对t检验、符号检验和McNemar卡方检验进行分析。
我们的大多数学生在DCP开始和结束时报告有饮酒、定期锻炼且不吸烟的情况。比较前后数据，水、水果和蔬菜的摄入量有统计学意义的显著增加，同时报告吃垃圾食品和饮用1份或更多份含咖啡因饮品的学生比例也有所增加（p≤0.002）。在DCP开始和结束之间，报告有焦虑或抑郁的学生比例下降了（p = 0.002）。
本研究提供了关于一个DCP中学生心理健康和生活方式行为的信息。我们建议未来的研究在多个DCP中使用经过验证的问卷。可能还需要进行干预研究以减少DCP学生的饮酒行为。
