Assessment of General Health and Some Related Factors among Students of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences In 2007

Background: Respect to psychological needs and health of students that are high ratio of country
population is highly important. Because of some stressful factors and impact of circumstances, this
group is at high risk. The purpose of the present study is assessment of GH and some related factors
among students of ZUMS.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 240 students of ZUMS in
2007. The subjects were selected using stratified random sampling. The data were collected using
GHQ-28. The cut off point of total score was set as 28 and in each item was set as 6. In addition to
demographic information, we asked all subjects about history of taking drugs, type of drugs, and
history of illness. The data were analyzed by SPSS version 13 soft ware using descriptive and
analytical (Chi-square test and principal component analysis) statistics. Significant level was set as
P<0.05.
Results: This study showed that 38.8% of students are suspected to have physical or
psychological disorders. These disorders among males and females were 22.7% and 44.8%,
respectively (P<0.05) which were highlighted in anxiety item. GH status of students was related to
marital and socio-economic status (SES) of students (P<0.05) that this relationship was more
obvious in depression and social function items. Single students and students with low level SES
had more problems. GH status of students was not related to graduate level, semester, field, age,
physical activity, average, residential status and household size (P>0.05).
Discussion: Socio economic status, especially monthly income is a good predictor of
psychological disorders among students, so respect to Socio economic status of students, especially
students with low monthly income is important.