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Abstract: Introduction: University students are subjected to different kinds of stressors, i.e.academic pressures, social issues and financial problems. This can affect their academic achievements and quality of life. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the health-related quality of life of university students, and how it is affected by the presence of chronic diseases, mental disorders comorbidity, and patterns of medical services' use. Methods: This web-based study included a sample of 1,410 Slovenian university students. We used a self-administered questionnaire, containing a sheet with demographic data, Zung's self-assessment inventories about anxiety and depression, and EQ-5D questionnaire. The main outcome measures were scores on EQ-5D part and VAS part of the EQ-5D questionnaire. Results: Independent factors associated with the health-related quality of life of university students, were the presence of chronic pain, the presence of depression and anxiety, need for urgent medical help and at least one visit to a clinical specialist in the past year. The independent factors associated with the health status of university students were the presence of chronic diseases, chronic pain, depression and anxiety, a visit to a clinical specialist, a need for urgent medical help and a visit to an emergency unit in the past year. Conclusion: Health-related quality of life of university students can be seriously affected by the presence of mental disorders and chronic pain. Appropriate health-related measures should be adopted to achieve early recognition of worse health-related quality of life, the presence of mental disorders and other chronic conditions, and to enable their effective treatment.
Keywords: quality of life, students, chronic disease, pain, depression, anxiety
Published in DKUM: 04.08.2017; Views: 1333; Downloads: 498
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