The mental health of university students during and after the emergency announcement of Chiang Mai University amid the COVID-19 pandemic

Main Article Content

Jintapatee Bangroy
Thanyarat Tawichai
Surapon Nochaiwong
Chidchanok Ruengorn

Abstract

Objective: The study aimed to assess the prevalence of mental health adverse outcomes including stress, depression, and suicide of Chiang Mai University (CMU) students during and after the emergency announcement amid the COVID-19 pandemic.


Materials and methods: A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted to collect two periods which were during (March 26th to August 2020) and after (November 2020 to January 2021) the emergency announcement of CMU amid the COVID-19 epidemic. Online questionnaires including the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and the eight-question (8Q) assessment were used via the Survey Monkey™ Program. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Paired t-test, or Wilcoxon's signed rank test.


Results: The mental health scores of all 276 students, which compared ‘during’ and ‘after’ the  emergency announcement, revealed that the mean PSS scores were 19.30±6.28 vs. 16.06±5.79 (p<0.001), median (IQR, min-max) scores of the PHQ-9, and 8Q scores were 8(7.5, 0-24) vs. 8(8, 0-24) (p=0.047), 0(0,0-33) vs. 0(0, 0-33) (p=0.109), respectively.


Conclusion: The stress and depression scores during the university emergency announcement for the COVID-19 epidemic were statistically significantly higher than the period after the announcement. Systematically assessing the students’ mental health is needed during emergency announcement circumstances such as the COVID-19 epidemic, and appropriate measures should be taken in a timely manner.

Article Details

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Original article (นิพนธ์ต้นฉบับ)

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