Mental Morbidity Prevalence, Stigma and Health Care Seeking Behaviors among Non-medical Students in University of Khartoum, Sudan March 2015

Background: Young adulthood is a critical period in which mental illnesses such as anxiety, mood disorders, and comorbidities such as substance use disorders often first emerge. Mental health problems may lead to disturbed behaviours and can severely impair academic performance. Yet only one-third of young adults with mental disorders seek professional help.

Aims: To study the prevalence of mental health morbidity and the barriers to seeking mental health care among non-medical students in the University of Khartoum.

Study Design: Descriptive Cross-sectional facility-based study.

Place and Duration of Study: University of Khartoum Central campus, Agriculture and Veterinary campus, and Educational campus March 2015.

Methodology: Study sample included Khartoum university non-medical students, selected using multistage sampling. Sample size 392. Data was collected by distributing self-administered questionnaire. Ethical consent from every participant was obtained. Dependent variables were measured using Standardized tools. Cronbach’s alpha, univariate and bivariate analysis were used.

Results: Study revealed that 57% of students suffered from mild symptoms of depression, 13.7% moderate and 0.5% severe while 61.2% suffered from anxiety symptoms.40% Suffered from moderate to severe stigma. Females were 1.5 times suffering from depression symptoms higher than males OR = 3.4 CI (2.1-5.3) RR = 1.5 CI (1.2-1.7) Pearson Chi-Square = .000 Females were 1.3 times suffering from anxiety symptoms more than males OR = 1.8 CI (1.2-2.7) RR = 1.3 CI (1.1-1.5) Pearson Chi-Square = .008 Students. Depression symptoms are more likely associated with anxiety symptoms OR = 7.25 CI (4.4 to 11.91) RR = 1.8 CI (1.5 to 2.1) Pearson Chi-Square = 0.000

Conclusion: Majority of university students were found to be suffering from depression and anxiety symptoms, with depression being more prevalent than anxiety. Females were found to be more depressed and anxious than males but less stigmatised. Stigma was a major mental health barrier for seeking medical care.