The prevalence of anxiety, stress and depressive symptoms in undergraduate students at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College
Christine Meckamalil, Lydia Brodie, Sheilah Hogg‐Johnson, Linda Carroll, Craig Jacobs, Pierre Côté
Abstract
Objective (1) Determine the one-week prevalence of moderate to extreme symptoms of anxiety, stress and depression in chiropractic undergraduate students. (2) Determine whether the prevalence varies across gender and year of study. Participants: Undergraduate students at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC). Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in fall 2017 to measure self-reported symptoms of anxiety, stress and depression using the DASS-21. Results: The participation rate was 67.0% (510/766). The one-week prevalence of moderate to extreme symptoms was 19.0% (95% CI: 13.0–25.0) for depression; 32.6% (95% CI: 24.7–40.3) for anxiety and 21.8% (95% CI: 15.6–28.1) for stress. The prevalence of stress varied significantly across gender: 25.4% (95% CI: 20.5–30.3) for females versus 16.3% (95% CI: 11.2–21.3) for males. The one-week prevalence of depressive (24.8%; 95% CI: 17.6–32.0) and anxiety (40.9%; 95% CI: 32.6–49.1) symptoms peaked in second year. Conclusions: Self-reported symptoms of anxiety, stress and depression are common in CMCC students.