Symptoms and Health Complaints and Their Association with Perceived Stressors among Students at Nine Libyan Universities

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Walid El Ansari¹  Khalid Khalil²  Christiane Stock³ 

[1] Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Gloucestershire, Gloucester GL2 9HW, UK;Faculty of Medical Technology, Misrata, Libya;Unit for Health Promotion Research, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Esbjerg 6700, Denmark;

关键词: self-reported symptoms/ health complaints;    stressors;    burdens;    quality of life;    university students;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph111212088

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

University students are exposed to many stressors. We assessed the associations between two stressors (educational related and general overall), socio-demographic characteristics (five variables), health behaviours/lifestyle factors (six variables), as well as religiosity and quality of life as independent variables, with self-reported symptoms/health complaints as dependent variables (eight health complaints). A sample of 2100 undergraduate students from nine institutions (six universities, three colleges) located in seven cities in Libya completed a general health questionnaire. The most prevalent symptoms were headaches, depressive mood, difficulties to concentrate and sleep disorder/insomnia that have been reported by 50%–60% of the students. The majority of students (62%) reported having had three or more symptoms sometimes or very often in the last 12 months. There was a positive association between perceived stressors and health symptoms, which remained significant after adjustment for gender and many other relevant factors for headache (OR 1.52; 95% CI 1.15–2.02), depressive mood (OR 2.20; 95% CI 1.64–2.94) and sleep disorder/ insomnia (OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.19–2.03). Other factors independently associated with most health symptoms were female gender and poorself-perceived health. Stress management programmes and a reduction of educational related stressors might help to prevent stress-related symptoms and health complaints in this student population.

【 授权许可】

Unknown