Differences in health complaints among university students from three European countries

Stock, Christiane; Küçük, Nazan; Misevičienė, Irena; Guillén-Grima, Francisco; Petkevičienė, Janina; Aguinaga-Ontoso, Inés; Krämer, Alexander

doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2003.07.001

Cited by 50 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…The HBSC Symptom Checklist used in the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children Study contained only eight symptoms and factor analysed them into two groups (37). Likewise, across a university student samples from Germany, Spain and Lithuania, a symptom checklist similar to that we employed (but containing only 9 of the symptoms) was categorised into three symptom groups: psychosomatic complaints (headache, nervousness, depression, sleep disturbance, dizziness); gastrointestinal complaints (diarrhea and constipation); and neck ache/backache (6). In contrast to our current findings, circulatory/breathing symptoms did not comprise a symptom group in the Stock et al study (6).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Likewise, across a university student samples from Germany, Spain and Lithuania, a symptom checklist similar to that we employed (but containing only 9 of the symptoms) was categorised into three symptom groups: psychosomatic complaints (headache, nervousness, depression, sleep disturbance, dizziness); gastrointestinal complaints (diarrhea and constipation); and neck ache/backache (6). In contrast to our current findings, circulatory/breathing symptoms did not comprise a symptom group in the Stock et al study (6). This was probably due to that the shorter (more brief) symptoms scale that they used containing only dizziness as circulatory/breathing symptoms, and other relevant symptoms were lacking in that scale (6).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Health problems, symptoms/health complaints (22 items): students rated 22 symptoms measuring a range of health complaints (6,25,26). Sample items included stomach trouble/heartburn, back pain, rapid heart beats/circulatory problem/dizziness, headaches, sleep disorder/insomnia, concentration difficulties, neck and shoulder pain, and depressive mood.…”

Section: Health and Well-being Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such complaints include: back pains and shoulder pains, various headaches, many gastrointestinal symptoms, psychological symptoms, psychiatric episode(s) and mental health issues including depression and anxiety, sleep disturbances, and circulatory/breathing complaints (e.g., dyspnoeic symptoms, tachycardia, excessive perspiration, and menstruation disorders) as manifestations of stress (2,(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Symptoms and Health Complaints and Their Association with Perceived Stress at University: Survey of Students at Eleven Faculties in Egypt

Ansari

Oskrochi

Labeeb

et al. 2014

Cent Eur J Public Health

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SUMMARYAims: This study examined the relationships between perceived stress and a range of self reported symptoms and health complaints in a representative sample of students at one university in Egypt.Methods: The data (3,271 students) was collected during the academic year 2009-2010 at eleven faculties at the university of Assiut city, Egypt. A self-administered questionnaire measured health complaints (22 symptoms) and Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale. Socio-demographic and lifestyle data were also collected. Factor analysis generated four groups of health complaints: psychological, circulatory/breathing, gastrointestinal, and pains/aches, and the internal consistency of each group of symptoms was computed using reliability analyses (Cronbach's alpha). Perceived stress was categorized into four levels based on quartiles. Multiple binomial or multinomial logistic regression analyses analysed the relationship between each of the four groups of symptoms and other students' general characteristics adjusted for the effect of all other groups of symptoms.Results: The symptoms most often reported as having occurred sometimes/very often in the last 12 months were fatigue (85.3%), difficulties to concentrate (78.1%), headache (77.9%), and mood swings (74.5%), while nervousness/anxiety (63.2%) and sleep disorder (63.7%) affected many students. Multinominal logistic regression revealed a clear association and a linear trend between increasing level of stress and a higher frequency of psychological symptoms that remained significant after adjustment for other groups of symptoms. There were no associations between perceived stress and circulatory/breathing symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms, or for pains/aches. Poor health was consistently associated with higher frequency of symptoms across all symptom groups except for gastrointestinal symptoms. Higher health awareness was associated with lower frequency of psychological and circulatory/breathing symptoms but not for the other two symptom groups. Better quality of life was associated with lower frequency of psychological and partly for circulatory/breathing symptoms, but not for the other two symptom groups. There were differences in levels of psychological symptoms and of perceived stress between faculties, where students of Physical Education showed the lowest risk profile regarding both psychological symptoms and perceived stress, while students of Veterinary Medicine showed the highest risk profile. Across all four symptom groups, females had higher ratings of complaints than males.Conclusions: The high prevalence of health complaints especially of psychological and pains/aches type of symptoms raise concern and calls for preventive actions at universities. Comprehensive programmes would be recommended that take the co-occurence of perceived stress and health complaints into account.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Health and Well-being Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Symptoms and Health Complaints and Their Association with Perceived Stress at University: Survey of Students at Eleven Faculties in Egypt

Ansari

Oskrochi

Labeeb

et al. 2014

Cent Eur J Public Health

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“…At both the national and international levels, consortia have been reported in cancer prevention 12 , quality of life 13 , and epidemiology 14 , among other applications. The Lance Armstrong Foundation created a network of eight comprehensive cancer centers, the LiveStrong Survivorship Centers of Excellence Network 15 , but we know of no efforts to create a research consortium in the field of survivorship.…”

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confidence: 99%

A Call for Action in Survivorship Research and Care

et al. 2012

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The mental health continuum‐short form: The structure and application for cross‐cultural studies–A 38 nation study

et al. 2018

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The metric level of invariance offers the possibility of comparing correlates and predictors of positive mental functioning across countries; however, the comparison of the levels of mental health across countries is not possible due to lack of scalar invariance. Our study has preliminary character and could serve as an initial assessment of the structure of the MHC-SF across different cultural settings. Further studies on general populations are required for extending our findings.

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Differences in health complaints among university students from three European countries

Cited by 50 publications

References 17 publications

Symptoms and Health Complaints and Their Association with Perceived Stress at University: Survey of Students at Eleven Faculties in Egypt

Symptoms and Health Complaints and Their Association with Perceived Stress at University: Survey of Students at Eleven Faculties in Egypt

A Call for Action in Survivorship Research and Care

The mental health continuum‐short form: The structure and application for cross‐cultural studies–A 38 nation study

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