Depression, anxiety, and sleep attributes: A cross-sectional study of chiropractic college students

To measure degree of depression, anxiety, and hours of sleep of chiropractic college students through an anonymous paper survey.

A convenience sample of 164 chiropractic college students completed a Major Depression Inventory (MDI) survey, a 2-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-2) survey, and were asked the number of hours of sleep they had per night and demographic questions. The survey was distributed to trimester 1–6 students 4 weeks into their 15-week semester.

Chiropractic students had an average MDI score of 18.1 ± 10.6 (mean ± SD), indicating the average chiropractic college student did not display depression. However, subset analysis revealed 18.9% of students had MDI scores over 30, which is associated with possible severe depression. Of students who demonstrated possible severe depression, 80.6% were female. Body mass index demonstrated no correlation with the number of respondents at risk for severe depression. Average GAD-2 score was 3.0 ± 1.9; male students scored 2.4 ± 1.8 and female 3.6 ± 1.8, indicating female students expressed anxiety more. Last, survey respondents reported they averaged 6.3 ± 1.1 hours of sleep per night with females reporting approximately 30 minutes less sleep per night than males.

Chiropractic students, on average, did not display depression. However, a subset of female students near the age of 26 were at an increased risk of severe depression. Chiropractic students displayed a rate of anxiety greater than that of undergraduate college students based on existing data sets and reported approximately 6 hours of sleep per night.