Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in university students during the COVID-19 pandemic: a meta-analysis attending SDG 3 and 4 of the 2030 agenda

Idoiaga, N. ; Legorburu, I. ; Ozamiz-Etxebarria, N. ; Lipnicki, D. M. ; Villagrasa, B. ; Santabárbara, J. (Universidad de Zaragoza)

Resumen: Background: Most universities around the world have been heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2020. Many students were isolated at home and underwent a forced transition from face-to-face learning to e-learning, at least in the first few months. The subsequent months and years were typically characterised by a slow return to normal learning under COVID-19 protocols and restrictions. A potential consequence of the lockdowns, social restrictions and changes to learning is the development of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) in university students, affecting their health and well-being (SDG3) and quality of education (SDG4). Materials and Methods: Medline was searched through PubMed for studies on the prevalence of PTSD in university students from 1 December 2019 to 31 December 2021. The pooled prevalence of PTSD was calculated with random-effects models. Results: A total of six studies were included, across which the prevalence of PTSD among university students was 23%. Meta-regression showed that the prevalence of PTSD was significantly higher with older age, but independent of the percentage of women in a study or its methodological quality. Conclusions: Our results suggest that students suffer from PTSD at a moderate rate. Measures are needed to address the mental health issues of university students that have arisen during COVID-19 all around the world. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Idioma: Inglés

DOI: 10.3390/su14137914

Año: 2022

Publicado en: Sustainability (Switzerland) 14, 13 (2022), 7914 - [12 pp]
ISSN: 2071-1050

Factor impacto JCR: 3.9 (2022)

Categ. JCR: ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES rank: 114 / 275 = 0.415 (2022) - Q2 - T2
Categ. JCR: ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES rank: 48 / 128 = 0.375 (2022) - Q2 - T2
Categ. JCR: GREEN & SUSTAINABLE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY rank: 34 / 46 = 0.739 (2022) - Q3 - T3
Categ. JCR: GREEN & SUSTAINABLE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY rank: 5 / 9 = 0.556 (2022) - Q3 - T2

Factor impacto CITESCORE: 5.8 - Engineering (Q1) - Energy (Q2) - Social Sciences (Q1) - Environmental Science (Q1)

Factor impacto SCIMAGO: 0.664 - Geography, Planning and Development (Q1) - Energy Engineering and Power Technology (Q2) - Environmental Science (miscellaneous) (Q2) - Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment (Q2) - Hardware and Architecture (Q2) - Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law (Q2) - Computer Networks and Communications (Q2)

Tipo y forma: Article (Published version)

Área (Departamento): Área Medic.Prevent.Salud Públ. (Dpto. Microb.Ped.Radio.Sal.Pú.)