Relationships among Lifestyle, Depression, Anxiety, and Reproductive Health in Female University Students

Ju-Hee Nho; Sung-Hee Yoo

doi:10.4069/kjwhn.2018.24.1.80

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Nho and Yoo: Relationships among Lifestyle, Depression, Anxiety, and Reproductive Health in Female University Students

Orginal Article

Korean J Women Health Nurs 2018;24(1):80-89.

Published online: 20 March 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4069/kjwhn.2018.24.1.80

Relationships among Lifestyle, Depression, Anxiety, and Reproductive Health in Female University Students

Ju-Hee Nho^1,, Sung-Hee Yoo²

¹ College of Nursing, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, Korea

²College of Nursing, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Korea

Corresponding author: Nho, Ju-Hee College of Nursing, Chonbuk National University, 567 Baekje-daero, Deokjin-gu, Jeonju 54899, Korea. Tel: +82-63-270-3108, Fax: +82-63-270-3127, E-mail: jhnho@jbnu.ac.kr

Received 23 January 201827 February 2018 Accepted 5 March 2018

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose

To identify relationships among lifestyle, psychological distress, and reproductive health in female university students.

Methods

We used a descriptive cross-sectional design. A total of 275 subjects were enrolled. Subjects agreed to undergo a face-to-face interview, including administration of structured questionnaires to determine health promotion lifestyle profile II (HPLP-II), depression anxiety stress scale for depression and anxiety (DASS-D, DASS-A), and reproductive health (knowledge, attitude, behavior, menstruation irregularity, dysmenorrhea, and gynecologic symptoms).

Results

The mean age of subjects was 21.2 years. Those with low HPLP-II score showed significantly high menstruation irregularity. Those with high depression and anxiety had significantly high reproductive symptoms. In addition, high HPLP-II score was correlated with low depression, anxiety, and high reproductive health.

Conclusion

The life style of female university students is associated with depression, anxiety, and reproductive health. To improve female university students' reproductive health, life style interventions including healthy nutritional habit, physical activity, and stress management are important.

Keywords: Female, Universities, Life style, Psychological stress, Reproductive health

References

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Table 1.

General Characteristics, Lifestyle, Depression, Anxiety and Reproductive Health (N=275)

Variables		Categories	n (%) or M±SD	Min∼Max or Median
Demographic	Age		21.2±1.2	20∼27
characteristics	Grade (n=263)	1	93 (35.4)
		2	88 (33.5)
		3	48 (18.3)
		4	34 (12.9)
	Residence (n=273)	Home	175 (64.1)
		Dormitory	35 (12.8)
		Rent	63 (23.1)
	Spending money (thousand won, month)		373.36±132.34	0∼900
	Religion	Yes	116 (42.2)	15.03∼34.13
	BMI (kg/m²)	＜18.5	44 (16.0)
		18.5∼22.9	180 (65.5)
		≥23	51 (18.5)
Health promoting			2.39±0.42	1.44∼3.71
lifestyle profile	Health responsibility		2.06±0.54	1.00∼3.78
	Physical activity		1.87±0.67	1.00∼3.63
	Nutrition		2.25±0.58	1.00∼3.67
	Spiritual growth		2.58±0.58	1.22∼4.00
	Interpersonal relations		3.10±0.51	1.67∼4.00
	Stress management		2.44±0.50	1.13∼3.75
Depression			9.53±7.24	8.00
	Yes (≥10)		121 (44.0)
	No (＜10)		154 (56.0)
Anxiety			7.93±6.55	6.00
	Yes (≥8)		122 (44.4)
	No (＜8)		153 (55.6)
Reproductive health	Knowledge		21.80±4.58	8∼31
	Attitude		46.05±6.13	24∼60
	Behavior		59.49±6.79	1∼100
	Menstruation
	Irregularity	Yes	118 (42.9)
	Dysmenorrhea		4.52±2.67	0∼10
	No (0)		18 (6.5)
	Mild (1∼3)		92 (33.5)
	Moderate (4∼6)		80 (29.1)
	Severe (7∼10)		82 (29.8)
	Gynecologic symptom^†	Yes	139 (50.5)
	Abnormal vaginal discharge		74 (26.9)
	Genital itching		62 (22.5)
	Genital pain		9 (3.3)
	Irregular vaginal spotting		24 (8.7)
	Pain at urination		19 (6.9)
	Dyspareunia		10 (3.6)
	Warts		13 (4.7)

^† Double choice; BMI=body bass index.

Table 2.

Lifestyle, Depression, Anxiety and Reproductive Health according to General Characteristics (N=275)

Variables	Categories	Lifestyle		Depression		Anxiety		Reproductive health
		Lifestyle		Depression		Anxiety		Knowledge		Attitude		Behavior
		M±SD	t or F or r (p)	M±SD	t or F or r (p)	M±SD	t or F or r (p)	M±SD	t or F or r (p)	M±SD	t or F or r (p)	M±SD	t or F or r (p)
Age			.11		.035		.083		.17		.06		–.01
			(.077)		(.559)		(.171)		(.005)		(.294)		(.827)
Grade	1^a	2.38±0.41	3.88	8.73±7.33	1.45	7.23±6.14	1.66	20.40±4.89	5.82	45.42±5.95	2.38	52.26±6.19	0.35
	2^b	2.31±0.39	(.010)	10.45±7.16	(.228)	7.95±6.17	(.177)	22.48±4.40	(.001)	46.36±5.81	(.070)	59.26±7.06	(.792)
	3^c	2.37±0.45	d＞b	10.58±7.16		9.79±8.29		23.46±4.08	b, c＞a	44.96±7.10		60.38±6.77
	4^d	2.60±0.46		8.47±6.59		7.53±6.29		21.68±4.29		48.21±5.16		59.41±7.64
Residence	Home^a	2.44±0.43	3.64	9.45±7.23	0.13	8.03±6.88	0.37	21.53±4.64	1.40	45.74±5.84	0.65	59.88±6.92	1.79
	Dormitory	2.32±0.39	(.028)	9.09±6.81	(.875)	8.06±6.41	(.694)	21.69±4.79	(.248)	46.03±5.60	(.521)	57.51±6.67	(.169)
	Rent^b	2.28±0.40	a＞b	9.84±7.26		7.24±5.44		22.65±4.35		46.78±7.02		59.32±6.39
Spending	money		0.01		.01		–.09		.07		.09		0.03
			(.836)		(.859)		(.135)		(.225)		(.127)		(.593)
Religion	Yes	2.42±0.42	0.98	9.05±6.78	–0.92	8.24±7.27	0.70	22.27±4.31	1.43	46.26±6.41	0.42	59.44±6.73	–0.13
	No	2.37±0.43	(.327)	9.87±7.58	(.358)	7.68±6.00	(.488)	21.47±4.77	(.155)	45.94±5.92	(.675)	59.55±6.87	(.896)
BMI	＜18.5	2.35±0.40	1.67	10.91±8.74	1.24	8.64±7.15	0.47	22.05±4.98	0.75	44.18±5.20	2.46	58.89±5.54	0.40
	18.5∼22.9	2.42±0.44	(.191)	9.08±6.98	(.292)	7.67±6.38	(.626)	21.94±4.66	(.474)	46.44±5.88	(.087)	59.76±6.53	(.674)
	≥23	2.31±0.37		9.95±6.66		8.27±6.71		21.10±3.93		46.26±7.43		59.09±8.54

a, b, c d=Scheffé test; BMI=body bass index.

Table 3.

Reproductive Health according to Demographic Characteristics, Lifestyle, Depression and Anxiety

Variables	Categories	Reproductive Health
		Menstruation irregularity			Dysmenorrhea					Gynecologic symptoms
		Yes (n=118)	No (n=156)	t or F or r (p)	No (n=18)	Mild (n=92)	Moderate (n=80)	Severe (n=82)	t or F or r (p)	Yes (n=139)	No (n=136)	t or F or r (p)
		n (%) or M± SD	n (%) or M± SD	t or F or r (p)	n (%) or M± SD	n (%) or M± SD	n (%) or M± SD	n (%) or M± SD	t or F or r (p)	n (%) or M± SD	n (%) or M± SD	t or F or r (p)
Demographic characteristics
Age		21.1±1.2	21.3±1.3	–0.95 (.342)	20.9±0.9	21.1±1.2	21.3±1.2	21.4±1.3	1.53 (.208)	21.32±1.26	21.14±1.13	–1.28 (.203)
Grade	1	43 (37.1)	50 (34.2)	2.63 (.460)	9 (50.0)	36 (40.9)	25 (33.3)	23 (29.1)	6.84 (.654)	42 (31.8)	51 (38.9)	3.11 (.376)
	2	43 (37.1)	45 (30.8)		5 (27.8)	26 (29.5)	29 (38.7)	27 (34.2)		43 (32.6)	45 (34.4)
	3	18 (15.5)	30 (20.5)		3 (16.7)	16 (18.2)	10 (13.3)	17 (21.5)		29 (22.0)	19 (14.5)
	4	12 (10.3)	21 (14.4)		1 (5.6)	10 (11.4)	11 (14.7)	12 (15.2)		18 (13.6)	16 (12.2)
Residence	Home	72 (61.5)	102 (65.8)	0.53 (.787)	12 (66.7)	62 (68.1)	56 (70.9)	44 (25.3)	9.85 (.054)	84 (61.3)	91 (66.9)	1.08 (.582)
	Dormitory	16 (13.7)	19 (12.3)		3 (16.7)	9 (9.9)	11 (13.9)	10 (12.2)		18 (13.1)	17 (12.5)
	Rent	29 (24.8)	34 (21.9)		3 (16.7)	20 (22.0)	12 (15.2)	28 (34.1)		35 (25.5)	28 (20.6)
Spending money (month)		38.02±12.55	36.87±13.78	0.71 (.478)	38.33±16.18	35.98±13.40	37.27±12.48	38.24±13.13	0.47 (.703)	38.88±13.50	35.76±12.81	–1.96 (.051)
Religion	Yes	48 (41.0)	68 (43.6)	0.71 (.382)	9 (50.0)	38 (41.3)	33 (41.8)	36 (43.9)	0.91 (.914)	61 (44.2)	55 (40.4)	0.40 (.543)
	No	69 (59.0)	88 (56.4)		9 (50.0)	54 (58.7)	46 (58.2)	46 (56.1)		77 (55.8)	81 (59.6)
BMI	＜18.5	18 (15.3)	26 (16.7)	0.63 (.729)	2 (11.1)	14 (15.2)	15 (18.8)	13 (15.9)	1.72 (.946)	27 (19.4)	17 (12.5)	3.53 (.170)
	18.5∼22.9	76 (64.4)	104 (66.7)		12 (66.7)	62 (67.4)	48 (60.0)	55 (67.1)		84 (60.4)	96 (70.6)
	≥23	24 (20.3)	26 (16.7)		4 (22.2)	16 (17.4)	17 (21.3)	14 (17.1)		28 (20.1)	23 (16.9)
Lifestyle		2.33±0.40	2.44±0.44	–2.02 (.044)	2.45±0.43	2.42±0.42	2.33±0.43	2.40±0.43	0.88 (.451)	2.35±0.42	2.43±0.43	1.48 (.139)
HR		2.00±0.50	2.10±0.57	–1.60 (.110)	2.01±0.43	2.03±0.57	1.99±0.53	2.15±0.55	1.24 (.296)	2.01±0.53	2.10±0.55	1.35 (.179)
PA		1.76±0.58	1.95±0.71	–2.46 (.014)	1.78±0.71	1.89±0.68	1.79±0.64	1.93±0.68	0.82 (.481)	1.80±0.66	1.94±0.66	1.77 (.078)
NUT		2.22±0.61	2.28±0.56	–0.81 (.422)	2.43±0.59	2.32±0.57	2.18±0.56	2.21±0.60	1.62 (.184)	2.22±0.61	2.29±0.55	1.00 (.319)
SG		2.51±0.61	2.63±0055	–1.71 (.089)	2.68±0.72	2.66±0.56	2.50±0.58	2.55±0.57	1.31 (.271)	2.55±0.57	2.61±0.59	0.85 (.394)
IR		3.07±0.47	3.12±0.54	–0.77 (.445)	3.22±0.36	3.10±0.53	3.07±0.53	3.09±0.48	0.41 (.745)	3.09±0.49	3.10±0.52	0.20 (.845)
SM		2.37±0.47	2.49±0.52	–1.86 (.065)	2.47±0.43	2.48±0.50	2.39±0.50	2.43±0.51	0.52 (.666)	2.39±0.52	2.48±0.47	1.55 (.123)
Depression		10.33±7.72	8.92±6.83	–1.60 (.111)	8.29±9.24	9.15±6.92	9.88±7.07	9.49±7.10	0.30 (.825)	10.57±7.79	8.47±6.48	–2.43 (.016)
Anxiety		8.76±6.72	7.33±6.39	–1.79 (.074)	5.33±5.09	8.48±6.80	7.10±5.88	8.44±6.64	1.83 (.143)	8.95±7.33	6.90±5.49	–2.62 (.009)

BMI=body bass index; HR=health responsibility; PA=physical activity; NUT=nutrition; SG=spiritual growth; IR=interpersonal relationship; SR=stress management.

Table 4.

Correlation of Life style, Depression, Anxiety and Reproductive Health (N=275)

Variables	Depression		Anxiety		Reproductive health
	Depression		Anxiety		Knowledge		Attitude		Behavior
	r	p	r	p	r	p	r	p	r	p
Life style	–.41	＜.001	–.14	.020	.07	.246	.35	＜.001	.29	＜.001
Health responsibility	–.20	.001	.02	.778	.17	.005	.27	＜.001	.21	＜.001
Physical activity	–.22	＜.001	–.07	.778	.04	.662	.25	＜.001	.10	.094
Nutrition	–.21	＜.001	–.12	.045	–.02	.797	.19	.002	.18	.002
Spiritual growth	–.49	＜.001	–.09	.126	.07	.246	.29	＜.001	.23	＜.001
Interpersonal relations	–.41	＜.001	–.16	.008	.02	.793	.36	＜.001	.38	＜.001
Stress management	–.37	＜.001	–.24	＜.001	.07	.246	.35	＜.001	.29	＜.001
Depression					.07	.224	–.17	.006	–.03	.650
Anxiety					.12	.052	–.03	.626	–.01	.949

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