Abstract

ALMEIDA, Maria et al. Impacts of COVID-19 on mental health among health sciences college students. Psic., Saúde & Doenças [online]. 2023, vol.24, n.1, pp.80-92.  Epub June 30, 2023. ISSN 1645-0086.  https://doi.org/10.15309/23psd240107.

The aim of this study was to investigate the impacts of COVID 19 on mental health among Health Sciences college students. This is a cross-sectional and quantitative study, the sample consisted of 618 university students of health sciences. Depressive symptoms were evaluated using the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9). The prevalence of depressive symptoms was estimated and the relationship between severe depressive symptoms and associated factors was achieved through multivariate analysis of Poisson Regression. The prevalence of mild, moderate, or severe depressive symptoms was 87.2% among students, while the prevalence of severe depressive symptoms was 18.8%. The factors that were significantly associated with severe depressive symptoms were moderate to severe internet dependence (PR = 3.60), self-perceived health regular / poor (PR = 3.15), female gender (PR = 2, 11), sexual orientation (PR = 2.02), decreased family income during the COVID-19 Pandemic (PR = 1.87) and the presence of some chronic disease (PR = 1.77). The assessment of the prevalence of depressive symptoms among students of health sciences was high and, considering the potential underlying health commitment institutional policies should be outlined, aiming to promote and protect the mental health of this population, as well as mitigate the negative effects direct and indirect effects caused by COVID-19.

Keywords : Depression; Students; Health occupations; COVID-19; Mental health.

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