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Are Students’ Symptoms and Health Complaints Associated with Perceived Stress at University? Perspectives from the United Kingdom and Egypt

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  • Walid El Ansari

    (Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Gloucestershire, Gloucester GL2 9HW, UK)

  • Reza Oskrochi

    (Faculty of Technology, Design and Environment, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX33 1 HX, UK)

  • Ghollamreza Haghgoo

    (Faculty of Technology, Design and Environment, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX33 1 HX, UK)

Abstract

This cross-sectional survey assessed and compared by country, the levels and correlates of 21 self-reported symptoms/health complaints. We examined the associations between self-reported symptoms and perceived stress. Data was collected from universities in the United Kingdom and Egypt (N = 3706 and 3271 undergraduates, respectively). A self-administered questionnaire assessed a range of self-reported symptoms, perceived stress, sociodemographic (gender, age, marital status, year of study, living arrangements during semester, income sufficiency), lifestyle (tobacco smoking, illicit drug/s use, alcohol consumption frequency), and health variables (subjective health status, health awareness, BMI), along with religiosity, and quality of life. Factor analysis categorized the 21 self-reported symptoms into four components. Correlation analysis and linear regression tested the associations between the self-reported symptoms and stress. Factor analysis of the health symptoms generated four symptom groups for each of the UK and Egypt (psychological; circulatory/breathing; gastrointestinal; and, pains/aches), and factor loadings were quite similar for both countries. Whilst the two samples showed similarities as to the kind of symptoms most frequently reported by students, the Egyptian sample had significantly higher frequency than the UK for every symptom. Frequent complaints (both countries) included difficulties to concentrate, fatigue, headaches, nervousness/anxiety, and back pain (UK) and mood swings (Egypt). Significantly more Egyptian students reported ≥4 symptoms over the past year than the UK. For each of the UK and Egypt, across each of the four symptom groups, there was a stepladder appearance whereby the frequency of symptoms increased with increasing quartiles of perceived stress. Not controlling for other variables, for both countries, there were significant positive correlations between each of the four symptom groups and stress; the highest correlation was for psychological symptoms. After controlling for sex, age country, and other symptom groups, stress was highly and significantly associated with psychological symptoms and also with pain & aches symptoms in both countries. UK students were generally less stressed than their counterparts in Egypt. Age and female gender were also associated with stress; the younger the student was the more likely to suffer from stress. Interactions were not significant. Across both countries, the levels of stress among students and the associations between perceived stress and health complaints suggest the need for a multiple approaches in order to understand the sources of stress; how college students experience stress; and, the coping mechanisms that different students employ to mitigate stress. Interventions aimed at both preventing, treating and caring for students’ distress, and also preventive strategies to help minimize the impact of stressful situations are required. Strategies that address both physical and psychological complaints may be beneficial for this population.

Suggested Citation

  • Walid El Ansari & Reza Oskrochi & Ghollamreza Haghgoo, 2014. "Are Students’ Symptoms and Health Complaints Associated with Perceived Stress at University? Perspectives from the United Kingdom and Egypt," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-22, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:11:y:2014:i:10:p:9981-10002:d:40670
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Walid El Ansari & Christiane Stock & The UK Student Health Group: Sherrill Snelgrove & Xiaoling Hu & Sian Parke & Shân Davies & Jill John & Hamed Adetunji & Mary Stoate & Pat Deeny & Ceri Phillips & A, 2011. "Feeling Healthy? A Survey of Physical and Psychological Wellbeing of Students from Seven Universities in the UK," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-16, April.
    2. Eikemo, Terje Andreas & Bambra, Clare & Judge, Ken & Ringdal, Kristen, 2008. "Welfare state regimes and differences in self-perceived health in Europe: A multilevel analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(11), pages 2281-2295, June.
    3. Abdul Karim, Syahirah & Eikemo, Terje A. & Bambra, Clare, 2010. "Welfare state regimes and population health: Integrating the East Asian welfare states," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(1), pages 45-53, January.
    4. Walid El Ansari & Susanne Vodder Clausen & Andi Mabhala & Christiane Stock, 2010. "How Do I Look? Body Image Perceptions among University Students from England and Denmark," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-13, February.
    5. Walid El Ansari & Christiane Stock & Ceri Phillips & Andi Mabhala & Mary Stoate & Hamed Adetunji & Pat Deeny & Jill John & Shan Davies & Sian Parke & Xiaoling Hu & Sherrill Snelgrove, 2011. "Does the Association between Depressive Symptomatology and Physical Activity Depend on Body Image Perception? A Survey of Students from Seven Universities in the UK," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-19, January.
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    1. Walid El Ansari & Khalid Khalil & Christiane Stock, 2014. "Symptoms and Health Complaints and Their Association with Perceived Stressors among Students at Nine Libyan Universities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-20, November.
    2. Castro, Damaris & Bleys, Brent, 2023. "Do people think they have enough? A subjective income sufficiency assessment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    3. Raphael M. Herr & Veronika M. Deyerl & Jennifer Hilger-Kolb & Katharina Diehl, 2022. "University Fairness Questionnaire (UFair): Development and Validation of a German Questionnaire to Assess University Justice—A Study Protocol of a Mixed Methods Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-11, December.
    4. Walid El Ansari & Gabriele Berg-Beckhoff, 2015. "Nutritional Correlates of Perceived Stress among University Students in Egypt," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-13, November.
    5. Walid El Ansari & Abdul Salam, 2020. "Is Achieving the Guidelines of Four Forms of Physical Activity Associated with Less Self-Reported Health Complaints? Cross-Sectional Study of Undergraduates at the University of Turku, Finland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-19, August.
    6. Aida Carballo-Fazanes & Javier Rico-Díaz & Roberto Barcala-Furelos & Ezequiel Rey & José E. Rodríguez-Fernández & Cristina Varela-Casal & Cristian Abelairas-Gómez, 2020. "Physical Activity Habits and Determinants, Sedentary Behaviour and Lifestyle in University Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-15, May.

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