INCIDENCE OF DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, AND STRESS AMONG STUDENTS OF HEALTH SCIENCES AND NON-HEALTH SCIENCES; A COMPARATIVE CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY FROM PAKISTAN

Background: Depression, anxiety, and stress (DAS) are prevalent psychological conditions worldwide, accounting for approximately 15% of the global burden of disease, particularly in developing countries. The overall prevalence of depressive symptoms among university students in Pakistan is 42.66%. Objectives: The main aim of this research was to investigate the incidence of depression, anxiety, and stress amongst both health sciences and non-health sciences university students and their association with socio-demographic characteristics. Methodology: The DASS-21 was used to collect data on depression, anxiety, and stress, in addition to socio-demographic factors. The data was collected through a web-based questionnaire from November 06, 2023, to January 06, 2024, from private and public universities in Punjab, Pakistan. 1177 students participated, including 586 (49.78%) health sciences students and 591 (50.21%) non-health sciences students. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Results: It was observed that the incidence of depression, anxiety, and stress among the university students of Pakistan was 52.8%, 40.5%, and 44.8%, respectively. The Kruskal-Wallis test showed a significant relationship between social media use and DASD (p < 0.001). In terms of study time, students who studied for less than 3 hours had a significantly higher prevalence of DASD, indicating a substantial association between study time and depression. Conclusions: According to the results of the current study, psychological conditions were highly prevalent in both health sciences and non-health sciences students. Moreover, contrary to male students, female undergraduates have higher rates of depression, anxiety, and stress. Particular attention should be paid to the students, and counselling sessions should be designed to improve their mental health. Hence, a comparative study of different psychological conditions among health sciences and non-health sciences students could be of interest and helpful to higher education policymakers. Screening students’ mental health is crucial to understanding the prevalence rates of DAS and its associated factors.