The Study of General Health Status in the Students of Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences in Yazd

Introduction: Students are predisposed to loss of general health due to the special circumstances of the education period. Considering that they constitute a significant proportion of the population, their general health status can be considered as a good basis to plan for their general health. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the general health status in students of Yazd University of Medical Sciences. Methods: In this descriptive study, 272 students of Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences in 2016 were selected by stratified random sampling method. Data collection instrument was a three-section questionnaire including demographic characteristics, lifestyle-related habits, a standard health questionnaire, and a general health questionnaire (GHQ-28). After data collection was done, the data were analyzed using SPSS software version 16, descriptive and Independent T-test and one-way ANOVAs. Results: Findings of the study showed that 54.4% of students had a nonfavorable general health status. The general health status of the students was not significantly associated with gender, education level, parents’ education level and residence status (p > 0.05). However, there was a significant difference in the variable of smoking (p = 0.03), and this difference was more pronounced in the areas related to depression (p = 0.01). Conclusion: Regarding the negative effects of the students' depression and smoking on their general health status, it seems that the general health of the students can be improved by providing consulting services and designing and implementing preventive action.