Depression, anxiety, stress, and their associated factors among Jimma University staff, Jimma, Southwest Ethiopia, 2016: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Worldwide, approximately 450 million people suffer from mental disorders. Of these, approximately 150 million are affected with depression. Depression, anxiety, and stress have an impact on productivity, motivation to work, sleep behavior of the individual, and outcome of different chronic diseases. However, till date, there are no studies which evaluated mental health problems among university staff in Ethiopia. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to assess the prevalence of depression, anxiety, stress, and their associated factors among Jimma University staff. METHODS: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 354 staff of Jimma University from March 24 to April 24, 2016. Stratified simple random sampling technique was used. Pretested interviewer-administered Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data were analyzed using SPSS Version 20.0 software. RESULTS: The prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress in this study was found to be approximately 22.9%, 19.2%, and 28.2%, respectively. Being female (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] =2.43, 95% confidence interval [CI] =1.22–4.77), no job satisfaction (AOR =10.59, 95% CI =4.88–22.98), presence of conflict with colleagues (AOR =2.33, 95% CI =1.21–4.49), and khat chewing (AOR =4.99, 95% CI =2.57–9.69) were associated with depression. Presence of conflict with colleagues (AOR =2.46, 95% CI =1.25–4.85), no job satisfaction (AOR =7.12, 95% CI =3.29–15.45), and khat chewing (AOR =2.94, 95% CI =1.52–5.66) were associated with anxiety. Being widowed (AOR =7.46, 95% CI =1.11–50.15), female (AOR =2.72, 95% CI =1.40–5.28), no job satisfaction (AOR =6.69, 95% CI =3.46–12.97), khat chewing (AOR =2.78, 95% CI =1.49–5.21), and presence of conflict with colleagues (AOR =2.93, 95% CI =1.57–5.46) were associated with stress. CONCLUSION: The burden of depression, anxiety, and stress among Jimma University staff was found to be high. Being female, widowed, or khat chewer or having a history of conflict with colleagues and no job satisfaction were predictors of depression, anxiety, and stress. Therefore, it is recommended to design preventive strategies to reduce the risk of these problems and to minimize the disease burden.