Depression, anxiety, and stress among Ugandan university students during the COVID-19 lockdown: an online survey

Background: COVID19 pandemic forced most countries to lockdown, leading to the prolonged closure of many learning institutions. This dramatic shift led to increase of mental illness symptoms among university students. Objective: To determine the prevalence and factors associated with symptoms of dep...

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Published in:African health sciences Vol. 21; no. 4; pp. 1533 - 43
Main Authors: Maria Najjuka, Sarah, Checkwech, Gaudencia, Olum, Ronald, Ashaba, Scholastic, Mohan Kaggwa, Mark
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Uganda Makerere Medical School 01.12.2021
Subjects:
Adult
Anxiety - psychology
Communicable Disease Control
COVID-19 - epidemiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Depression - psychology
Humans
Male
SARS-CoV-2
Stress, Psychological - diagnosis
Students
Uganda - epidemiology
Universities
Young Adult
Uganda
University students
COVID-19 lockdown
Mental health
ISSN:1680-6905, 1729-0503, 1680-6905, 1729-0503
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Summary:Background: COVID19 pandemic forced most countries to lockdown, leading to the prolonged closure of many learning institutions. This dramatic shift led to increase of mental illness symptoms among university students. Objective: To determine the prevalence and factors associated with symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress among Uganda’s university students during the COVID-19 lockdown. Methods: We conducted a one-month online survey using the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Results: Participants n=321 were enrolled with mean age, 24.8(SD=5.1) years and 198(61.7%) were males. The prevalence of mental health symptoms among participants was 80.7%, 98.4%, and 77.9% for depression, high levels of anxiety,and stress, respectively. Statistically significant association between mental health symptoms on multi-logistic regression was found with Males (depression=2.97[1.61–5.48] and stress=1.90[1.07–3.35]), engagement in leisure activity (depression= 1.87[1.01–3.49] and stress=1.98[1.10–3.56]), and being finalist (stress=0.55[0.31– 0.97]). Use of addictive substances seem to potentially alleviate symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress in the short term.  Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest a high prevalence of symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress among university students during the COVID-19 lockdown. Students’ mental health should be monitored by all stakeholders, especially as the pandemic progresses. Keywords: COVID-19 lockdown; University students; Mental health.
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ISSN:1680-6905
1729-0503
1680-6905
1729-0503
DOI:10.4314/ahs.v21i4.6