Lifestyles, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress as Risk Factors in Nursing Apprentices: A Logistic Regression Analysis of 1193 Students in Lima, Peru

Abstract

Currently, it is considered that mental disorders are related to different types of chronic pathologies; for this reason, efforts to improve general health should also focus on preserving mental health. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine through logistic regression if the independent variables (risk factors) such as (X1) age, (X2) sex, (X3) marital status, (X4) number of children, and (X5) occupation have influence on the dependent variables such as lifestyles, depression, anxiety, and stress in Peruvian nursing students. The research study was descriptive, transversal, and prospective; 1193 nursing students from Chorrillos, Ica, and Chincha were evaluated, which constituted the total population for the 2018 semester. The Health Promoting Life Profile-II (HPLP-II) and the Depression and Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) were used as instruments. 53.9% of nursing students had unhealthy lifestyles; however, they presented moderate (19.7%), slight (14.2%), severe (2.5%), and extremely severe (2.4%) anxiety. With respect to depression, it was found that 61.2% and 59.9% of affected students were stressed. A significant association was found only between depression and age (p=0.040) and OR = 2.0 (95% CI 1.3–3.1), anxiety and marital status (p=0.043) and OR = 1.7 (95% CI 1.0–2.6), and lifestyles and sex of the students (p=0.003) and OR = 1.1 (95% CI 1.1–2.3). Finally, it is concluded that Peruvian nursing students showed levels of anxiety ranging from moderate to extremely severe, while most of them had “normal” states of depression and stress and also showed unhealthy lifestyles.