Beta
332378

Anxiety and Depression Screening in Egyptian University Students: Prevalence and Predictors

Article

Last updated: 03 Jan 2025

Subjects

-

Tags

-

Abstract

Background: Depressive and anxiety disorders are among the leading causes of burden of disease worldwide with prevalence estimates and disability weights comparatively higher than many other diseases among university students age group. University students are at a developmentally crucial period and are prone to experience variable levels of stresses which can lead to mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression. Identifying the prevalence of these disorders and the associated factors is crucial for prevention and control of these disorders. Objective(s): The current study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of anxiety and depression and their associated and predicting factors among university students. Methods: An observational cross-sectional study was conducted in Alexandria and Alamein universities from March till April 2023, where all students at both universities were invited to participate. Data collection was done using a self-administered structured online questionnaire using Google Forms that was divided into 3 parts. The first part was prepared to collect data regarding the sociodemographic characteristics, personal habits, history of chronic diseases and mental illness, family history of mental illness, academic environment and students' perspective towards studying. The second part included the validated Arabic version of The Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7) questionnaire, and the third part included the validated Arabic version of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) the depression module. Respondents were asked to rate how often each symptom occurred over the preceding 2 weeks. Results: Among 2589 valid questionnaires, the overall prevalence of moderate to severe anxiety symptoms were found among nearly half the students (48.4%). Moderate to severe depression symptoms constituted 70%. Predictors that were statistically significantly associated with anxiety symptoms after binary logistic regression were age, sex, faculty type, smoking, history of mental illness, sleeping hours, and time available to study, while predictors of depression symptoms were faculty type and academic year. Conclusion: Our study suggests that a lot of university students experience depression and anxiety symptoms, and highlighted factors that are related to these mental disorders. Anonymous screening can have an important role in identifying students with mental disorders overcoming stigma that prevents them from seeking help.

DOI

10.21608/jhiph.2023.332378

Keywords

depression, anxiety, university students, prevalence, associated factors, predictors

Authors

First Name

Gihan

Last Name

Gewaifel

MiddleName

I.

Affiliation

Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Egypt

Email

ggewaifel@yahoo.com

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Mai

Last Name

Hussein

MiddleName

M.

Affiliation

Clinical Research Administration, Alexandria Health Affair Directorate, Ministry of Health and Population, Egypt

Email

mai.mk.hussein@gmail.com

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Nermeen

Last Name

Ibrahim

MiddleName

N.

Affiliation

Department of Epidemiolgy, High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Egypt

Email

hiph.nnabil@alexu.edu.eg

City

-

Orcid

-

Volume

53

Article Issue

2

Related Issue

45050

Issue Date

2023-08-01

Receive Date

2023-12-26

Publish Date

2023-08-01

Page Start

64

Page End

74

Print ISSN

2357-0601

Online ISSN

2357-061X

Link

https://jhiphalexu.journals.ekb.eg/article_332378.html

Detail API

https://jhiphalexu.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=332378

Order

3

Type

Original Article

Type Code

511

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Journal of High Institute of Public Health

Publication Link

https://jhiphalexu.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Anxiety and Depression Screening in Egyptian University Students: Prevalence and Predictors

Details

Type

Article

Created At

23 Dec 2024