Study-related mental health symptoms and their correlates among allied health professions students

Allied health professions (AHP) students are subject to critical levels of study-related stressors including mental health symptoms (MHS) and musculoskeletal pain. Few studies recruited AHP students of multiple academic majors simultaneously.

This study investigated and compared the prevalence of MHS severity and their associated factors among students of nine AHP majors.

A cross-sectional design was used with a sample of nine AHP academic majors (n = 838). Participants completed a validated self-administered questionnaire that included demographics and life style, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS 21), and the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire. MHS scores were statistically compared between males and females and between majors. A general linear model (GLM) multivariate procedure was used to assess the statistical associations between MHS and their correlates.

Mild to extremely severe MHS levels were found in 62.2% of the participants for depression, 65.3% for anxiety, and 54.2% for stress. Compared to males, females showed significantly higher levels of stress (p <  0.01) and depression (p = 0.018). MHS were statistically associated with gender, physical health, diet quality, study difficulty, satisfaction with academic major, academic major and musculoskeletal pain. University GPA demonstrated negative significant correlations with MHS.

MHS in AHP students are prevalent and should be accounted for by AHP educators. More studies are encouraged to assess actual mechanisms causing MHS among AHP students, and effective treatment programs are needed.