Undergraduate student mental health at Makerere University, Uganda
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Date
2006
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
World psychiatry
Abstract
There is little information on the current mental health of University students in Uganda. The present study was carried out to determine the
prevalence of depressed mood and suicidal ideation among students at Makerere University. Two student samples participated. Sample I
comprised 253 fresh students admitted to all faculties at the University in the academic year 2000/2001, selected by a simple random sampling
procedure. Sample II comprised 101 students admitted to the Faculty of Medicine during the academic year 2002/2003. The prevalence
of depressed mood was measured using the 13-item Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The prevalence of depressed mood (BDI score 10 or
more) was significantly higher in sample I (16.2%) than sample II (4.0%). Sample I members were significantly more likely than those of
sample II to report lifetime and past week suicide ideation. Thus, there is a high prevalence of mental health problems among the general
population of new students entering Makerere University and this is significantly higher than for new students in the Faculty of Medicine.
Description
Keywords
Students, Mental health problems, Depressed mood, Suicidal ideation
Citation
Ovuga, E., Boardman, J., & Wasserman, D. (2006). Undergraduate student mental health at Makerere University, Uganda. World psychiatry, 5(1), 51.