Sociodemographic and Behavioral Factors Associated with Anxious Symptoms in University Students from the Extreme North of Brazil

Objective: To describe the sociodemographic, behavioral and health factors associated with anxiety symptoms in university students at an educational institution in the far north of Brazil.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study.Sample comprised 582 university students.Data collection instrument: self-prepared sociodemographic and health questionnaire and DASS-21 scale.Collection period: March to June 2023.Descriptive statistical analysis and multinomial logistic regression with Pearson's chi-square and Fisher's tests.Results: Women were almost 3 times more likely to develop severe/extremely severe anxiety symptoms.Around 33.27% of the students had an "extremely severe" score for anxious symptoms, while 35.04% had a score compatible with the normal standard.In relation to the areas of knowledge, health sciences had the highest score for "extremely severe" anxious symptoms.Conclusion: the factors female gender, history of frequent medical consultations, smoking and having a previous medical diagnosis are associated with anxious symptoms.