Malebari Azizah M, Alamoudi Saeed O, Al-Alawi Talal I, Alkhateeb Anas A, Albuqayli Adnan S, Alothmany Hamzah N
Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Front Public Health. 2024 Dec 11;12:1441695. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1441695. eCollection 2024.
Previous studies have shown that mental health issues such as depression and anxiety are on the rise globally, particularly among university students. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms among university students, and the associated potential risk factors, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
A cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted in a sample of 728 students who anonymously completed three sets of questionnaires: a sociodemographic and lifestyle information questionnaire, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) to screen for depressive symptoms and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale to screen for anxiety symptoms.
In a survey of 728 students, 81.5% reported depression and 63.6% anxiety, with no difference between medical and non-medical majors. Regular exercise, a history of psychological disorders, a diagnosis of chronic illness, and the use of antidepressant medications were significant indicators of depression. Significant anxiety markers included female gender, a diagnosis of chronic illness, a history of psychological disorders, the use of antidepressant medications, and smoking. Surprisingly, we did not observe any significant differences between the prevalence of depression or anxiety symptoms and common risk predictors, such as poor academic performance, low family income, and year of study.
Depression and anxiety had a high prevalence among undergraduates, regardless of their field of study; therefore, we recommend the implementation and expansion of community-based mental health prevention programs and mentorship programs. Universities with counseling programs should identify and eliminate factors that contribute to depression and anxiety.
先前的研究表明，抑郁症和焦虑症等心理健康问题在全球范围内呈上升趋势，尤其是在大学生中。本研究的目的是评估沙特阿拉伯吉达市大学生中抑郁和焦虑症状的患病率以及相关的潜在风险因素。
对728名学生进行了一项横断面问卷调查研究，这些学生匿名完成了三套问卷：一份社会人口学和生活方式信息问卷、用于筛查抑郁症状的患者健康问卷-9（PHQ-9）以及用于筛查焦虑症状的广泛性焦虑障碍-7（GAD-7）量表。
在对728名学生的调查中，81.5%的学生报告有抑郁症状，63.6%的学生报告有焦虑症状，医学专业和非医学专业之间没有差异。经常锻炼、有心理障碍史、被诊断患有慢性病以及使用抗抑郁药物是抑郁的显著指标。显著的焦虑指标包括女性、被诊断患有慢性病、有心理障碍史、使用抗抑郁药物以及吸烟。令人惊讶的是，我们没有观察到抑郁或焦虑症状的患病率与常见风险预测因素（如学业成绩差、家庭收入低和学习年份）之间存在任何显著差异。
抑郁症和焦虑症在本科生中患病率很高，无论他们的专业领域如何；因此，我们建议实施并扩大基于社区的心理健康预防项目和指导项目。设有咨询项目的大学应识别并消除导致抑郁和焦虑的因素。
