The relationship between Life Style and mental health among medical students in Kermanshah

Psychological distress, health-promoting lifestyle and sociodemographic factors in Honduran university students: a structural equation model

This study sought to analyze an explanatory model on the relationship among sociodemographic factors, health-promoting lifestyle behaviors and psychological distress (depression, anxiety and stress) in college students. This is an observational, analytical and cross-sectional study conducted on a national sample of 4203 students who entered a macro university in Honduras in 2021, 2022 and 2023. We used a sociodemographic survey, the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile (HPLP-II) and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21). Univariate analysis and a multivariate structural equation model were conducted. The average HPLP-II score was 117.45 (± 23.41), and the average DASS-21 score was 20.06 (± 14.16). The multivariate model showed a good data fit (comparative fit index = 0.951; Tucker-Lewis index = 0.957; root mean square error of approximation = 0.067 [90% CI = 0.067-0.068]). Results indicate that being a woman (β = 0.11; p < 0.001) and being enrolled in biological and health sciences (β = 0.09; p < 0.001) significantly predict HPLP-II scores. Furthermore, being a woman (β = 0.17; p < 0.001), age (β = 0.10; p < 0.001) and having pre-existing medical conditions (β = 0.16; p < 0.001) significantly explain part of the variance of DASS-21. A significant reverse relationship between health-promoting behavior and psychological distress was shown (r = -0.36; p < 0.001). This study identifies protective and risky sociodemographic factors linked to health-promoting lifestyle behaviors and psychological distress. Our findings have implications for developing comprehensive intervention policies and strategies to promote health in higher education settings.

Association between lifestyle choices and mental health among medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study

INTRODUCTION

Mental health is recognized as a critical component of public health Given the close relationship between mental health and life style and the importance of students as valuable human resources, the present study aimed at determining the relationship between life style and mental health among medical students in Sousse during COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional observational study in university students from the first to the fifth grade of the Faculty of Medicine of Sousse during the academic year 2020/2021. Data were collected anonymously via an online questionnaire published on the Facebook groups of each grade, on december 2020. The online survey consisted of three sections. The first one aimed to collect sociodemographic information. The second section of the survey addressed recent lifestyle choices and the third one assessed psychological distress using the French version of 12 items of The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). The significance level was considered 0.05.

RESULTS

Overall 147 were studied. Using the bimodal scoring, the total score was between 0 and 12, to evoke psychiatric disorders, we set the threshold of 4. For our sample, the median scale was 7 [4-9], and more than half of the students (68%; n = 100) had a score higher than 4. Psychiatric disorder was significantly more frequent in female students (73.3% vs 42.3%; p = 0.002). Higher GHQ-scale was found in younger students, foreigners, students who need more than 30 minutes to get to the faculty, unemployed students, and students of fifth grade. However, differences were not statistically significant. Regarding lifestyle choices, we found that physical inactivity, no smoking habits, no alcohol use, no illicit substance use, other substance use, changing in eating habits, and absence of coping methods of stress were higher in students with psychiatric disorders. However, this association was statistically significant only for physical activity (p = 0.016). The results of the regression analysis suggest female gender as an independent predictor of high GHQ-12 scores. Practicing physical activity was found as protective factor for psychiatric disorders.

CONCLUSION

Considering the vital role of medical students in providing and promoting community health, the need for more detailed planning and interventions to improve their life style and mental health is essential.

Evaluating the role of residence affecting the mental health among elderly populations in Malaysia: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

According to the perception of majority of people, especially the elderly, it is believed that elderly people who are sent to old-age homes are more prone to have depression compared to those who are living with the community. This study was aimed to assess the significance of the place of residence in relation to the presence of depression among the elderly.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted between March and August 2020 to assess the depression among the elderly population residing in the Muar district, of Malaysia. A random table was generated of 250 house numbers in Muar where there is at least one geriatric person was living and a random sampling method was used for data collection. A questionnaire was distributed to a sample size of 250 old folks of Muar: those residing in old-age homes (n = 125) and those residing in their own houses (n = 125). A standard sociodemographic and geriatric depression scale interview was employed for data collection. All details were keyed into the SPSS version 22 software Standard Gradpack 23, and simple description and inferential statistics such as mean, median mode, percentages, and Chi-square tests were performed to compare the effects of different residences toward the mental health of the elderly.

RESULTS

The total mean age of the elderly in both the places was 73.06 ± 9.116 years. Female respondents of this research accounted for 52.8%. In terms of religion, Islam had the highest number of respondents of 46.8%, followed by Buddhist (33.6%), Christian (10.8%), and Hindu (8.8%). The percentage of elderly having more than three children was 45.2%. The marital status and employment status of the elderly in Muar area are mostly widowed (40.8%) and retired (50%). They are predominately literate (81.6%) and most have a monthly income less than RM 2000 (90.8%). We found that the prevalence rate of depression was 70.4% in the elderly residing in old-age homes and 24.8% in the elderly living in the community. Females had a higher prevalence of depression than males (60.2% vs. 39.8%) among the elderly in old-age homes, whereas males had a higher prevalence in the community than females (51.6% vs. 48.4%). Logistic regression analysis revealed the place of residence (P < 0.01 and employment status (P = 0.011) as the predictors of depression.

CONCLUSION

Results of this study revealed that the high prevalence rate of depression among the elderly is in old-age homes compared to elderly living in the community.

The Lifestyle of Saudi Medical Students

This study was conducted to investigate medical students’ lifestyle habits, including sleep quality, eating and drinking patterns, physical activity, and social status. Method: This research project is part two of a multi-institutional cross-sectional observational study conducted among medical students from six medical colleges in Saudi Arabia between September and December 2019. Results: 675 medical students were enrolled electively into the lifestyle study. About half of this number were male students and the majority were aged 18–24 years. Most students (87.6%) slept between 4–8 h a day and over 44% were dissatisfied with their sleep. Only 28.1% had three meals a day; about 40% of them usually or always skipped breakfast. A total of 44% usually or always ate fast food and 44.7% drank 2 L of water per day. Moreover, male students were significantly consuming more fast food than females, p < 0.001. The majority (63.3%) revealed they usually or always drink black coffee daily. Females were significantly more inclined to regular coffee consumption than males, p < 0.001. Only 4.3% exercised for 30 min or more daily. The majority (65%) of the students were introverted; they had few close friends. Yet, 81% were somewhat satisfied or satisfied with their social life. Male students were significantly more satisfied with their social life than females, p = 0.001. Only 4.6% smoked cigarettes daily whereas 7.1% smoked e-cigarettes daily. In contrast, only 0.3% used shisha (hookah) daily. Male medical students were substantially more inclined to e-cigarette use than females (p < 0.001). The top five leisure activities of a medical student were surfing social media (75.9%), watching movies (61.3%), hanging out with friends (58.1%), spending time with their family (55.4%), and browsing the Internet (53.6%). Female medical students were significantly more inclined to surf social media than male medical students, p = 0.022; also, watching movies was preferred for females compared to males, p = 0.006. Conclusion: This study revealed that the majority of these medical students in Saudi Arabia exhibited healthy lifestyles to some extent, and these health-promoting behaviors differed based on sex, especially concerning physical activity and eating patterns. The findings of this study provide relevant information for future actions that will be geared towards effectively decreasing the occurrence of chronic illnesses and improving future doctors’ well-being.