The Prevalence of Depression and its Predictors among International Postgraduate Students Studying Public Health at a UK University

Abstract

Objective: This study examined the prevalence and existing predictors of depression in international postgraduate public health students at a university in England. Material and Methods: It was carried out as a descriptive cross-sectional survey. A total of 153 students enrolled in MSc in public health and community well-being and MPH in global public health courses were recruited using a convenience sampling technique. The Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression 10-Item Scale (CES-D-10) and Chi-squared tests were utilized to assess the prevalence of depression and the association of encountered challenges with depressive symptoms, respectively. Outcomes: The prevalence of depression was 34.6% in this study. A link was found between depressive symptoms and several socio-demographic factors such as ethnicity, source of funding, and accommodation status in the United Kingdom. There was also a significant association between depression and all general problems faced by international students except housing. Finally, of all the challenges faced at the university, communicating with lecturers was the only one associated with this disorder. Conclusion: This study highlighted the important predictors of depression among international public health students, which reflect the need for a more collaborative strategy pursued by all teams within the university to compact this crisis.