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Assessment of mental wellbeing of undergraduate pharmacy students from 14 countries: The role of gender, lifestyle, health-related, and academic-related factors

Elnaem MH 1 , Mubarak N 2 , K T MS 3 , Barakat M 4 , Abdelaziz DH 5 , Mansour NO 6 Show all authors , Thabit AK 7 , Ramatillah DL 8 , Al-Jumaili AA 9 , Syed NK 10 , Adam MF 11 , Hossain MS 12 , Baraka MA 13 , Jose J 14 , Elkalmi R 15 , Chandran S 16 , Singh Dehele I 17 , Elrggal M 18 , Fathelrahman AI 19

Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia
  • 2 Department of Pharmacy Practice, Lahore Medical and Dental College, University of Health Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan
  • 3 Department of Pharmacy Practice, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India
  • 4 Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Applied Science Private University, Amman, Jordan
  • 5 Pharmacy Practice and Clinical Pharmacy Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Future University in Egypt, Cairo, Egypt
  • 6 Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Practice Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt
  • 7 Pharmacy Practice Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
  • 8 Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia
  • 9 College of Pharmacy, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq
  • 10 Pharmacy Practice Research Unit, Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia
  • 11 Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Science and Technology, Omdurman, Sudan
  • 12 Centre for Sustainability of Ecosystem and Earth Resources (Pusat ALAM), Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia
  • 13 Clinical Pharmacy Program, College of Pharmacy, Al Ain University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
  • 14 Department of Pharmacy, University of Nizwa, Nizwa, Oman
  • 15 Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Sebha University, Sebha, Libya
  • 16 College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Government Medical College Kannur, Kannur, Kerala, India
  • 17 School of Pharmacy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom
  • 18 College of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
  • 19 Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia
Front Public Health, 2022;10:1011376.
PMID: 36388263 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.1011376

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Pharmacy students will assume future roles as frontline healthcare providers. Therefore, evaluating their current state of mental wellbeing and its associated factors is essential for better planning students' support initiatives. This study aimed to assess mental wellbeing and its associated factors among undergraduate pharmacy students from 14 countries during the pandemic.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate pharmacy students in 14 countries in Asia and the Middle East. The validated Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (the 14-item WEMWBS) was adopted to assess mental wellbeing. Data collection was performed online between February and April 2022. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used as appropriate.

RESULTS: A total of 2,665 responses were received, mainly from females (68.7%) with a higher presence of private universities (59.1%). About 34.9% had low mental wellbeing levels, while 57 and 8.1% had medium, and high levels, respectively. Binary logistic regression showed that males (AOR: 1.34; CI 95%: 1.11-1.61; p < 0.01) and students with no chronic illnesses (AOR: 2.01; CI 95%: 1.45-2.80; p < 0.001) were more likely to have higher mental wellbeing. Also, participants who did not engage in any exercise (AOR: 0.71; CI 95%: 0.52-0.98; p = 0.04) and those in public universities (AOR: 0.82; CI 95%: 0.69-0.97; p = 0.02) were less likely to have higher mental wellbeing. Additionally, students who had interest/passion for pharmacy (AOR: 1.69; CI 95%: 1.07-2.68; p = 0.02), and those who known pharmacists inspired (AOR: 1.81; CI 95%: 1.06-3.12; p = 0.03), were more likely to have higher mental wellbeing compared with those who had no specific reason for their choice to study pharmacy. The participants with excellent (AOR: 1.87; CI 95%: 1.29-2.70; p = 0.001) or very good self-reported academic performance (AOR: 1.57; CI 95%: 1.12-2.22; p = 0.01) were more likely to have higher mental wellbeing compared to those with fair academic performance.

CONCLUSION: More than a third of the participants had low mental wellbeing. Various demographic, lifestyle, medical and academic factors appeared to affect students' mental wellbeing. Careful consideration of these factors and their integration into the pharmacy schools' plans for student support services and academic advising would be essential to improve students' mental wellbeing.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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