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BMC Psychiatry
Published in: BMC Psychiatry 1/2016

Open Access 01-12-2016 | Research article

Medical students’ health behaviour and self-reported mental health status by their country of origin: a cross-sectional study

Authors: András Terebessy, Edit Czeglédi, Bettina Claudia Balla, Ferenc Horváth, Péter Balázs

Published in: BMC Psychiatry | Issue 1/2016

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Abstract

Background

Numerous previous studies have investigated the lifestyle and self-perceived health status of medical students. This study examined whether students’ country of origin contributed to their mental health and health risk behaviour.

Methods

We conducted our cross-sectional questionnaire survey over four consecutive years (2009–2012). The target population was fourth-year English- and Hungarian-language course medical students at Semmelweis University, Hungary. We gathered data on medical students’ health behaviour (tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, dietary habits and exercise) and mental health status and used analysis of variance (ANOVA) to examine the association between country of origin and mental health.

Results

The response rate was 76.1 % for the Hungarian and 63.4 % for the English course students. The mean age of our sample was 24.1 years (SD = 2.42). Only 15.3 % of students reported following dietary recommendations, but 75.0 % reported engaging in vigorous and regular physical exercise. The prevalence of tobacco smoking was 18.6 % and 13.8 % overconsumed alcoholic beverages. Hungarian and Iranian students reported lower mental well-being than Mediterranean, Israeli and Scandinavian students (F(4) = 18.943, p < 0.001, η2 = 0.103). Results of the multiway ANOVA indicated that both country of origin and exercise showed a significant relationship with mental health: vigorous exercise was associated with better mental health status (F(1) = 5.505, p = 0.019).

Conclusions

Medical students’ mental health and health behaviour are associated with multiple factors. One of these is country of origin but exercise may also influence mental health. Health promotion programmes organised for medical students should take their country of origin into consideration and should include physical activity.
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Metadata
Title
Medical students’ health behaviour and self-reported mental health status by their country of origin: a cross-sectional study
Authors
András Terebessy
Edit Czeglédi
Bettina Claudia Balla
Ferenc Horváth
Péter Balázs
Publication date
01-12-2016
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Psychiatry / Issue 1/2016
Electronic ISSN: 1471-244X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-016-0884-8

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