Health Status of the Clinical Dental Students in the Jordanian Universities

BACKGROUND: Dental students are subjected to many stresses that may affect their achievement. The purpose of this study is to assess the mental and physical health of dental students in two Jordanian Universities. METHODS: A total of 265 dental students and 228 non-dental students from two Jordanian Universities participated in the study. They completed the survey questionnaire and their responses were used in calculating the 0-100 scores for the eight health concepts by linear transformations of scores. The ANOVA test was used to determine the significant differences among the student groups, and Tukey test was used for multiple comparisons among groups. All tests were carried out at 95% confidence level. RESULTS: The results indicated that the dental students of the Jordan University of Science and Technology were of better health than their counterparts at the University of Jordan. The health scores attained by the dental students of the two universities were less than those of non-dental students of the same age. CONCLUSIONS: The physical and more significantly the mental health components of dental students should receive more attention, and further work is needed to detect the possible causes and find potent remedies for this problem. KEYWORDS: Health survey; Clinical students; Physical functioning; Mental health; Social functioning