The association between depressive symptoms and self-rated health among university students: a cross-sectional study in France and Japan

Abstract

Background Depressive disorders in University students have risen dramatically in the past few decades to the extent that students’ mental health has become a current global public health priority. Obtaining information from University students about their mental health is challenging because of potential embarrassment of disclosing one’s concerns and fear of stigmatization. Self-rated health might be a good solution to evaluate mental health state by a simple and neutral indicator. The aim of the study is to investigate the association between depressive symptoms and self-rated health by sex among University students in France and Japan. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted by using two large cohorts of students aged ≥18 years (n = 5655 in Bordeaux, France and n = 17,148 in Kyoto, Japan). Depressive symptoms (PHQ-2 scale), Likert scale of self-rated health, socio-demographic characteristics and health habits were collected through self-administered questionnaires. Multivariate logistic regression models were performed to describe the association between depressive symptoms and other variables including self-rated health, stratified by sex. Results A high score of PHQ-2 (high depressive symptoms) was associated with poor self-rated health in both cohorts independently of all other variables (OR 2.82, 95%CI 1.99–4.01 in France, OR 7.10, 95%CI 5.76–8.74 in Japan). Although the prevalence of depressive symptoms between sexes was different in French students (males 15.4%, females 25.0%, p < 0.001), it was similar in Japanese students (males 3.5%, females 3.3%, p = 0.466), who reported less depressive symptoms than French students. The association between depressive symptoms and poor self-rated health was greater in Japanese females (OR 12.40, 95%CI 7.74–20.00) than in males (OR 6.30, 95%CI 4.99–7.95), whereas the strength of the association was almost similar in French students (OR 2.17, 95%CI 0.86–5.47 in males, OR 2.98, 95%CI 2.03–4.38 in females). Conclusions Depressive symptoms were associated with self-rated health among University students in both countries with slightly differences in sex. Self-rated health would be a simple, reliable and universal indicator for healthcare professionals and University staff to identify students at risk of depression.

Investigating Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Mental Health of Nursing Students During Remote Learning: An Experience from Dong A University, Vietnam

“…According to the report of Hossain et al (2020), poor Self-perceived health was found to be significantly associated with a higher likelihood of depression and anxiety among students (Hossain et al, 2020b). A cross-sectional study conducted using two large cohorts of students in France and Japan by Ishida et al (2020) showed that high depressive symptoms and poor selfrated health were strongly associated, independently of all other variables (Ishida et al, 2020). Similarly, result from an online survey during the COVID-19 pandemic among nursing and midwifery students suggested that those having poorer self-rated general health were all significantly associated with higher scores on at least one DASS-21 subscale (Wynter et al, 2021).…”

Association between Self-Rated Health and Depressive Symptoms in Rural Chinese Adults: A Cohort Study Based on Propensity Score Matching

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Independent and joint effects of sleep duration and sleep quality on suboptimal self-rated health in medical students: A cross-sectional study

“…SRH is a subjective measure of health status that integrates a person's biological, psychological, social, and functional aspects; and has been widely used in epidemiological studies ( 1 , 5 , 26 ). In this study, SRH was assessed by five-point Likert scale of self-rated health corresponding: “How do you feel about your health in general?” ( 27 , 28 ), and the options were divided into 5 groups (1 = very good, 2 = good, 3 = fair, 4 = poor, 5 = very poor) ( 6 ). Referring to the standards of other international cohort study ( 29 ), those with a score of 3–5 were defined as suboptimal SRH, and those with a score of 1 or 2 were defined as good SRH.…”