Psychological Distress and its Correlates among University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.
STUDY OBJECTIVE
Mental health disorders are common among university students. In addition to the normal stressors of everyday life, students must deal with stresses related to their education. Our aim was to identify the mental health status of university students and its correlation with socio-demographic, academic performance, and menstrual features.


DESIGN
A cross sectional study was conducted among undergraduate health students using the Symptoms Checklist-90- Revised (SCL-90-R). The Global Severity Index (GSI), raw scores of SCL-90-R subscales, and correlated factors were reported and analyzed.


RESULTS
A total of 171 health students completed the survey. Psychopathological symptoms were found in 23% of the student. Depression was the most prevalent mental reported symptom (100%). There was no significant association between the symptoms and variables such as age, gender, living in university dormitories, marital status, field of study, academic performance, and the day of menstrual cycle while filling the form. GSI scores were significantly related to regular menses. The odds of being identified as a mentally unhealthy individual was 0.37 times lower for those who experienced regular menstrual cycles.


CONCLUSION
Psychological distress is prevalent among health students and tends to be reported more by female students with irregular periods and during luteal phase of menstrual cycle. Preventive and treatment programs need to be developed. It is also recommended that SCL-90-R be administered at least 7 days after the end of menstrual bleeding.
['Delara|Mahin|M|', 'Woodgate|Roberta L|RL|']
D000293:Adolescent D000328:Adult D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008350:Manitoba D015995:Prevalence D013315:Stress, Psychological D013334:Students D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires D014495:Universities D055815:Young Adult
Mental health Health students SCL-90-R Menstrual cycle Premenstrual syndrome Youth