Open AccessSelf-Rated Health, Demographic Factors and Depressive Symptoms Among Malaysian Adults
Author(s) -
Nur Syahirah Mohd Shah,
Nik Nur Wahidah Nik Hashim,
Nadzirah Ahmad Basri,
Siti Fauziah Toha
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
international journal of care scholars
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2600-898X
DOI - 10.31436/ijcs.v5i1.213
Subject(s) - marital status , malay , self rated health , depressive symptoms , depression (economics) , analysis of variance , medicine , psychology , health education , clinical psychology , demography , gerontology , psychiatry , public health , population , environmental health , linguistics , philosophy , anxiety , nursing , sociology , economics , macroeconomics
Depression risk has been significantly associated with sociodemographic aspects such as education levels and self-rated health. The aim was to investigate the relationship of socio-demographic characteristics particularly level of education, and self-rated health on depressive symptoms among Malaysian adults. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study among Malaysians who aged 16 to 52 years old. Respondents were recruited via social media, using convenience sampling. Sociodemographic questions include education levels and self-rated health among other questions. Depressive symptoms were measured using Beck Depression Inventory-II, Malay version. The data were analysed using Chi- Square Test. Two-Way of ANOVA was utilized to determine the association of education levels and self-rated health on depressive symptoms.Results: Chi-Square indicated that age, level of education, job categories and self-rated health had a significant relationship at p<0.05 with key variables used in this study, presence, and absence of depressive symptoms except for gender, race and marital status. Two-way of ANOVA results revealed a significant interaction between self-rated health, level of education and depressive symptoms (F = 2.711,df=5,p<0.05).Conclusion: Malaysian individuals with low education levels showed depressive symptoms and showed a significant association with low self-rated health, however some of them rated themselves as healthy. Therefore, the government needs to make health literacy a priority for everyone, particularly for those with low levels of education and individuals who perceived themselves as mentally healthy.