Depression, Anxiety, Stress, and Associated Factors among Pharmacy Students Following the COVID-19 Pandemic

Year 2025, Volume: 16 Issue: 1, 112 - 125, 25.04.2025

Canan Gulcan , Nurgül Karaozan

https://doi.org/10.22312/sdusbed.1455975

Abstract

COVID-19, which initially originated in the city of Wuhan, China at the end of 2019, caused millions of cases and deaths worldwide. Considering the conditions that arose during the pandemic, the psychological well-being of the students was affected by many factors related to COVID-19. This study has aimed to investigate the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress related to the COVID-19 and possible factors affecting depression, anxiety, and stress among pharmacy students. The mental health status of participants was examined using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Association analysis using non-parametric tests was performed for categorical, ordered, and dichotomous predictors. Logistic regression analysis was applied to investigate the effects of explanatory variables on the mental health of the students. Based on the findings, the prevalences of severe/extremely severe depression, anxiety, and stress were found to be 16.6%, 28.2%, and 12.0%, respectively. We also found significant effects of investigated factors, e.g., having a psychiatric disease, relationship with the family or friends, having anyone in the family who lost his/her job during the pandemic, having a need for psychiatric support, having anyone in the family diagnosed with COVID-19, on the depression, anxiety, and stress levels of the students. Our findings showed that the factors related to COVID-19 might have led to an increase in depression, anxiety, and stress levels among the students. These parameters must be taken into consideration both for the protection of students' psychological well-being and for the guidance of their education and training activities.

Keywords

COVID-19, mental health, pharmacy students

COVID-19 Salgını Sonrası Eczacılık Öğrencilerinde Depresyon, Kaygı, Stres ve İlişkili Faktörler

Abstract

İlk olarak 2019 yılı sonunda Çin'in Wuhan şehrinde ortaya çıkan COVİD-19, dünya çapında milyonlarca vakaya ve ölüme neden oldu. Pandemi sürecinde ortaya çıkan koşullar göz önüne alındığında öğrencilerin psikolojik iyilik hallerinin Covid-19 ile ilgili birçok faktörden etkilendiği görülmüştür. Bu çalışma, eczacılık öğrencileri arasında COVID-19'a bağlı depresyon, anksiyete ve stresin yaygınlığını ve depresyon, anksiyete ve stresi etkileyen olası faktörleri araştırmayı amaçlamıştır. Katılımcıların ruh sağlığı durumları Depresyon, Kaygı ve Stres Ölçeği (DASS-21) kullanılarak incelendi. Kategorik, sıralı ve ikili değişkenler arasındaki anlamlılık ilişkisi parametrik olmayan testler kullanılarak analiz edişmiştir. Açıklayıcı değişkenlerin öğrencilerin ruh sağlığı üzerindeki etkilerini araştırmak amacıyla lojistik regresyon analizi uygulanmıştır. Bulgulara göre şiddetli/aşırı şiddetli depresyon, anksiyete ve stres yaygınlıkları sırasıyla %16,6, %28,2 ve %12,0 olarak bulunmuştur. Psikiyatrik bir hastalığın olması, aile veya arkadaşlarla ilişki, ailede pandemi sırasında işini kaybeden birinin olması, psikiyatrik desteğe ihtiyaç duyulması, ailede herhangi birinin salgın sırasında işini kaybetmesi gibi faktörler ile anlamlı ilişki bulunmuştur. Bulgularımız, COVID-19 ile ilgili faktörlerin öğrencilerde depresyon, kaygı ve stres düzeylerinde artışa yol açmış olabileceğini göstermiştir. Hem öğrencilerin psikolojik iyiliklerinin korunması hem de eğitim-öğretim faaliyetlerinin yönlendirilmesi açısından bu parametrelerin dikkate alınması gerekmektedir.

Keywords

COVID-19, ruh sağlığı, eczacılık öğrencileri, logit regresyon modeli

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