Martial SONKOUE PIANTA1,Jerome ATEUDJIEU1
1University of Dschang, Cameroon
CaHReF 2018, Yaoundé Congres hall, 08 – 11 January 2019 , OERF007
Background: Evidence indicates that depression and anxiety affects a large number of university students, is higher among University students than the general population and can lead to catastrophic consequences such as suicide.
Objectif: The main objective of this study was to determine the distribution of depression and anxiety among students as well their association to Smartphone use.
Methodology:We conducted a cross sectional study at the University of Dschang in which students answered a self administered questionnaire consistingof PHQ-9, PHQ-7 and SAS-SV, data concerning demographics, smartphone use and health seeking behaviour was also collected. Participants were selected according to a random sample stratified by study cycle within 2 faculties of the main campus selected at random. A case control design was nested in this study to investigate the association between Smartphone addiction and occurrence of depression or anxiety.
Results:A total of 634 participants were included in the study. The overall prevalence of depression and anxiety was 34.86% [CI: 31.25-38.65] and 19.27% [CI: 16.81-22.99] respectively. Social media 39.27% [CI:35,55%-43,13%] and SMS text, 35.80% [CI: 32,17%-39,61%] are the most time spending activities. The greatest barrier to healthcare access was the inability to pay, 38.64% [CI: 34,93%- 42,49%]. Smartphone addiction was significantly associated with depression [OR: 4.96, 95% CI; 3.30-7.45, <0.001] and anxiety [OR: 2.44, 95%CI; 1.58-3.77, <0.001]. This association remained significant for both depression [OR: 4.46, 95%CI; 2.92-6.84, <0.001] and anxiety 2.08 [OR: 2.08, 95%CI; 1.31-3.30, <0.001] after adjustment.
Conclusion/Recommandation: Depression and anxiety had high prevalences and were significantly associated with smartphone addiction. Universities should be provided with mental health professionals. Further studies should investigate the causal relationship between smartphone addiction and mental health problems.
Key Words: University Students, Smartphone, Addiction, Depression, Anxiety