Student Health: Factors Affecting Academic Success

1
Student Health Factors Affecting Academic
Success

• Corie Beckermann, Director of Health Services
• Dr. Brent Nielsen, Medical Director
• St. Cloud State University Fall 2008

2
Outline of Presentation

• Overview of Health Services, The ACHA, and NCHA
• A look at our data from Spring 2008 with a focus
  on what students say affects academic success
• Current resources on our campus
• Questions and comments

3
St Cloud State UniversityStudent Health Service

• Medical clinic - we are nationally accredited
  with 10,000 visits annually and 5 providers
• Pharmacy approximately 12,000 prescriptions
  filled annually
• Lab - accredited
• Health Promotions campus outreach
• Located in bottom floor of Hill Hall

4
National College Health Assessment

• The American College Health Association-National
  College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA) is a
  national research survey organized by the ACHA to
  assist college health service providers, health
  educators, counselors, and administrators in
  collecting data about their students' habits,
  behaviors, and perceptions on the most prevalent
  health topics.

5
National College Health Assessment

• ACHA initiated the survey in 1998 the survey
  now provides the largest known comprehensive data
  set on the health of college students, providing
  the college health and higher education fields
  with a vast spectrum of research on student
  health.

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National College Health Assessment

• Random sample of classes in February 2008
• The results of the ACHA-NCHA Spring 2008 survey,
  for Saint Cloud State University, included 833
  respondents.
• In 2007 there were 71,860 students who responded
  from 107 schools across the nation

7
Possible Uses of the ACHA-NCHA

• Determine priority health issues among student
  populations.
• Provide prevalence rates and formulate baseline
  data for tracking trends.
• Measure progress and effectiveness of
  intervention strategies.
• Assess the correlation between one characteristic
  or behavior and another in a given population.
• Identify students level of self-knowledge about
  health protection practices and illnesses.
• Identify students perceptions about peer
  behavior.
• Assess the impact of health and behavior factors
  on academic performance.

8
General Question Content of the NCHA

• A. General Health of College Students
• B. Preventive Health
• C. Academic Impacts
• D. Violence
• E. Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Use
• F. Sexual Behavior
• G. Nutrition and Exercise
• H. Mental Health
• I. Student Demographics

9
Students View of General Health

• 59.0 of students surveyed (64.9 male and 56.7
  female) described their health as very good or
  excellent.

10
General Health GPA

• Simple correlation, r.086, p
• (significant, not by chance)
• There is a positive relationship
• Those who rated their health as excellent had
  higher GPAs on average

11
Students with Excellent Health
12
Students with Poor Health
13
Frequency of Health Problems in the Past School
Year

• 1. Back pain 45.6
• 2. Allergy problems 36.5
• 3. Sinus Infection 26.2
• 4. Depression 16.7
• 5. Strep Throat 14.3
• 6. Anxiety 12.7
• 7. Asthma 10.5
• 8. Ear infection 9.1
• 9. Bronchitis 7.8
• 10. SAD 7.2
• 11. Broken Bone 6.1
• 12. Substance abuse 4.3
• 13. Stress Injury 3.9
• 14. Mono 3.7
• 15. Fatigue 3.4
• 16. High blood pressure 3.3

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Frequency of Health Problems in the Past School
Year

• 17. Genital Warts/HPV 2.5
• 18. High Cholesterol 2.4
• 19. Bulimia 2.0
• 20. Anorexia 1.5
• 21. Chlamydia 1.2
• 22. Diabetes 1.0
• 23. Hepatitis B or C 0.5
• 24. Tuberculosis 0.4
• 24. Genital Herpes 0.4
• 26. Gonorrhea 0.1
• 26. Endometriosis 0.1
• 26. Pelvic inflammatory 0.1
• 27. HIV infection 0.0

15
Academic Impacts

• Within the last school year students reported the
  following factors affecting their individual
  academic performance, i.e. received an
  incomplete, dropped a course, received a lower
  grade in a class, on an exam, or on an important
  project

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Academic Impacts Greatest to Least

• 1. Stress 29.1
• 2. Sleep Difficulties 23.2
• 3. Cold/flu/sore throat 22.9
• 4. Concern for a troubled friend or family
  member 14.0
• 5. Depression/anxiety disorder/seasonal
  affective disorder 11.8
• 6. Relationship difficulty 11.6
• 7. Internet use/computer games 11.2
• 8. Death of a friend/ family member 9.6
• 9. Attention deficit disorder 7.4
• 10. Sinus Infection/ear infection/bronchitis/stre
  p throat 7.3
• 11. Drug Use 3.5
• 12. Mononucleosis 3.0
• 13. Learning Disability 2.8
• 14. Injury 2.8
• 15. Allergies 2.2

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Academic Impacts Greatest to Least

• 16. Chronic Pain 2.1
• 17. Assault (sexual) 1.8
• 18. Chronic illness(diabetes,asthma,etc) 1.7
• 19. Assault (physical) 1.0
• 20. Eating disorder/problem 0.9
• 21. Pregnancy (yours or partners) 0.8
• 22. Sexually transmitted disease 0.7
• 23. HIV infection 0.3

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What is Stress?

• It is the bodys response to physical and
  psychological demands.
• Since stress is a broad concept it is hard to
  define what students mean when they say, stress
  affects academic performance.
• Some examples
• Academic stress
• Psychosocial stress
• Financial stress
• Physical stress
• Occupational

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Predictors of Stress

• Sleep difficulty Stress (r.650, p
• Relationship difficulty Stress (r.431, p
• Internet and Games Stress (r.318, p
• Anxiety (last year) Stress (r.289, p

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Stress and GPA

• Stress itself had no significant relationship
  with GPA
• However, some of the predictors of stress did
  relate to student GPA
• Sleep difficulty GPA (r.110, p
• Internet and Games GPA (r.088, p

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Sleep Problems

• Reported by students as the second most common
  health issue which affected academic performance

22
Academic Impacts Greatest to Least

• 1. Stress 29.1
• 2. Sleep Difficulties 23.2
• 3. Cold/flu/sore throat 22.9
• 4. Concern for a troubled friend or family
  member 14.0
• 5. Depression/anxiety disorder/seasonal
  affective disorder 11.8
• 6. Relationship difficulty 11.6
• 7. Internet use/computer games 11.2
• 8. Death of a friend/ family member 9.6
• 9. Attention deficit disorder 7.4
• 10. Sinus Infection/ear infection/bronchitis/stre
  p throat 7.3
• 11. Drug Use 3.5
• 12. Mononucleosis 3.0
• 13. Learning Disability 2.8
• 14. Injury 2.8
• 15. Allergies 2.2

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Getting enough sleep to feel rested in the morning
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Evaluation of Sleep

• Detailed history including stressors,
  medications, drug use and sleep hygiene
• Counseling on importance of regular sleep
  schedule and other sleep hygiene measures (we
  review how the patients lifestyle/habits
  negatively impact sleep)
• Medications are sometimes indicated when related
  to other health problems

25
Mental Health/Depression

• Depression is reported by students as one of the
  top health problems which impacts academic
  success

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Academic Impacts Greatest to Least

• 1. Stress 29.1
• 2. Sleep Difficulties 23.2
• 3. Cold/flu/sore throat 22.9
• 4. Concern for a troubled friend or family
  member 14.0
• 5. Depression/anxiety disorder/seasonal
  affective disorder 11.8
• 6. Relationship difficulty 11.6
• 7. Internet use/computer games 11.2
• 8. Death of a friend/ family member 9.6
• 9. Attention deficit disorder 7.4
• 10. Sinus Infection/ear infection/bronchitis/stre
  p throat 7.3
• 11. Drug Use 3.5
• 12. Mononucleosis 3.0
• 13. Learning Disability 2.8
• 14. Injury 2.8
• 15. Allergies 2.2

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College students reported being diagnosed with
depression
28
Of those students reporting ever having been
diagnosed with depression in the item above...
29
Feeling things were hopeless
30
Feeling overwhelmed by all they had to do
31
Feeling exhausted (not from physical activity)
32
Feeling very sad
33
Feeling so depressed it was difficult to function
34
Seriously considering attempting suicide
35
Attempting suicide
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Evaluation of Student with Symptoms of Depression

• Detailed history with a focus on multiple
  stressors and specific areas of symptoms
• Student can be initially evaluated at the
  counseling center or health services, whichever
  they prefer
• Student specific therapy/counseling and
  medications are initiated by on campus staff when
  indicated

37
of Mental Health Visits per Year to Health
Services
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URIs (Upper Respiratory Infections)

• At least 1/3 of our total visits annually
• Examples include flu, mono, sinus infections, ear
  infections, strep throat, pneumonia and the
  common cold
• Many URIs are self-limiting, but can impact
  academic performance (flu, mono, high fever
  illnesses). Many URIs affect sleep temporarily.

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Academic Impacts Greatest to Least

• 1. Stress 29.1
• 2. Sleep Difficulties 23.2
• 3. Cold/flu/sore throat 22.9
• 4. Concern for a troubled friend or family
  member 14.0
• 5. Depression/anxiety disorder/seasonal
  affective disorder 11.8
• 6. Relationship difficulty 11.6
• 7. Internet use/computer games 11.2
• 8. Death of a friend/ family member 9.6
• 9. Attention deficit disorder 7.4
• 10. Sinus Infection/ear infection/bronchitis/stre
  p throat 7.3
• 11. Drug Use 3.5
• 12. Mononucleosis 3.0
• 13. Learning Disability 2.8
• 14. Injury 2.8
• 15. Allergies 2.2

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URIs (continued)

• We provide high quality care with timely visits
  most prescriptions and lab tests are available on
  site
• Prevention (flu shots), self-care (proper sleep),
  and basic hygiene (hand washing and covering your
  cough) are important. Education regarding these
  issues is accomplished at most visits and
  critical.

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Conclusions

• Health issues affect students ability to succeed
  in college.
• Mental health related problems and URIs are
  especially prevalent here and nationwide.
• Being aware of what affects students academically
  and the resources we have on campus will empower
  us to assist students who are at greatest risk.

42
Resources on our Campus for students with health
problems

• 1. Health Services 308-3191
• 2. Counseling Center 308-3171
• 3. Student Disability Services 308-4080
• 4. Womens Center 308-6408
• 5. Behavioral Intervention Team 308-3111
• 6. Case Manager position
• 7. Psychiatrist hours and Phone Consults

43
Behavioral Intervention Team

• A group of campus administrators from student
  life, public safety, and the presidents office
  who meets on a weekly basis to discuss students
  of concern on campus
• Most are referrals from faculty, residential
  life, and public safety
• A plan is developed for each student

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Case Manager

• Planned hire for 2008-2009 school year to assist
  the above areas from the BIT team in connecting
  students in need with resources

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Psychiatry Hours/Phone Calls

• We have one hour per week of face-to-face time
  and one hour per week of phone consultation for
  challenging cases. Triage for these few spots is
  challenging.
• We share these hours with St. Bens, St. Johns,
  and St. Cloud Technical College
• Grant funded by Centracare

46
Credits

• Thank you to
• John Buckner, Dept of Psychology
• Yawovi Sessi Komlanvi, Dept of Economics
• Rebecca Bullert, Dept of Community Health
• April Basarich, Dept of Psychology

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Questions or Comments?
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• END

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A Refresher on Statistics

• P values significance at pconfident the relationship is not by chance,
  there is only a 5 chance that we found this
  relationship without it actually existing in the
  population
• Interpreting correlations (r values)
• r values range from -1 to 1. An r value of 0
  means there is no correlation
• Positive r values means they move the same
  direction
• Ex as Health goes up, GPA goes up as health
  goes down, GPA goes down
• Negative means they move opposite directions
• Ex Sleep difficulty goes down, GPA goes up
  sleep difficulty goes up, GPA goes down