Measuring the Quality of Life and Psychological Distress of Dormitory Students at a University in Sharjah

Objective: Living in university dormitories can have a negative impact on students' psychological health and quality of life. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the frequency and risk factors of psychological distress and quality of life among university students living in dormitories at a university in Sharjah.

Methods: A total of 336 participants between the ages of 18 and 24 years were recruited. The World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF) scale and Kessler's Psychological Distress Scale (K10) were used to assess the quality of life (QoL) and psychological distress (PD), respectively. Data were analyzed via SPSS 25 (Chicago, IL: IBM Corp.) and p≤5% were reported as statistically significant.

Results: A total of 43.45% (n=145) of participants lived in dormitories, while 56.55% (n=186) lived elsewhere. The mean QoL was higher (94.55) for non-dormitory students compared to dormitory students (88.97) (p<0.000, 95% CI = -8.591 to -2.577). Our results also show that the QoL is inversely proportional to PD (p<0.001).

Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that students living in dormitories are at higher risk of experiencing lower QoL compared to those living elsewhere, on top of the high rates of PD that they have to endure.