Generalized Anxiety Disorder Among Health Sciences College Students, Majmaah: A cross-sectional study
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Keywords
GAD, health sciences colleges students, University of Majmaah, Saudi Arabia
Abstract
Objectives: This study aims to estimate the prevalence of Generalized Anxiety Disorder among health sciences college students at Majmaah University and evaluate the related social risk factors.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at the Majmaah University of Saudi Arabia by using a random sampling technique. A standardized pretested questionnaire comprised of a Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) scale was used to collect the data. Comparison between qualitative data was done by Chi-square test and a p-value < 0.05 was considered significant.
Results: A total of 631 male and female students were completed the survey out of which 54.8% were females and 45.2% males. The study revealed that the majority of the study participants suffered from stress before (70.5%), while 29.5% don't. The study also found that the prevalence of generalized anxiety disorder among study was 38.2% with mild anxiety, and 26.6% with moderate anxiety. However, 19.5% of study participants with severe anxiety, while 15.7% were normal with a score of less than 5. The overall prevalence of generalized anxiety disorder among university students was (84.3%); The results revealed that female students were significantly more anxious than male students.
Conclusion: The current study confirms that the prevalence of generalized anxiety disorder was high among university students. It is recommended to give personalized advice and psychological counseling services which might be helpful to overcome this psychological condition.
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