1. Physical health, lifestyle beliefs and behaviors, and mental health of entering graduate health professional students: Evidence to support screening and early intervention.
- Author
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Mazurek Melnyk, Bernadette, Slevin, Caitlin, Militello, Lisa, Hoying, Jacqueline, Teall, Alice, and McGovern, Colleen
- Subjects
ANXIETY ,BIOMETRY ,STATISTICAL correlation ,MENTAL depression ,HEALTH attitudes ,HEALTH behavior ,HEALTH occupations students ,HEALTH status indicators ,RESEARCH methodology ,MEDICAL screening ,MENTAL health ,PSYCHOLOGICAL tests ,QUESTIONNAIRES ,SCALE analysis (Psychology) ,SURVEYS ,UNIVERSITIES & colleges ,LIFESTYLES ,EARLY medical intervention - Abstract
Background and purpose Little is known about the physical health, lifestyle beliefs and behaviors, and mental health among first-year health professional graduate students. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to describe these attributes as well as to explore the relationships among them. Methods A descriptive correlational study was conducted on the baseline data from a wellness onboarding intervention study with 93 health sciences students from seven different colleges within a large public land grant university in the Midwest United States. Findings Nearly 40% of the sample was overweight/obese, and 19% of students had elevated total cholesterol levels. Only 44% met the recommended 30 min of exercise 5 days per week. Forty-one percent reported elevated depressive symptoms and 28% had elevated anxiety. Four students reported suicidal ideation. Inverse relationships existed among depression/anxiety and healthy lifestyle beliefs/behaviors. Conclusions Students entering health professional schools are at high risk for depression, anxiety, and unhealthy behaviors, which could be averted through screening and early evidence-based interventions. Implications for practice Assessing the physical health, lifestyle behaviors, and mental health of first-year health sciences professional students is important to identify health problems and modifiable at-risk behaviors so that early interventions can be implemented to improve outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2016
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