Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2016 Apr 12;11(4):e0153454.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0153454. eCollection 2016.

Prevalence of Depression among Chinese University Students: A Meta-Analysis

Xian-Yang Lei  1   2 , La-Mei Xiao  1 , Ya-Nan Liu  3 , Ya-Min Li  1
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Prevalence of Depression among Chinese University Students: A Meta-Analysis

Xian-Yang Lei et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Depression is a major mental health issue worldwide, and university students with heavy burdens of study are at a high risk for depression. While a number of studies have been conducted regarding depression among university students in China, there is a lack of information regarding the national prevalence of depression among Chinese university students. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to statistically pool the prevalence of depression among Chinese university students.

Methods: A systematic search of scientific databases was conducted, including Chinese Web of Knowledge, Embase, PubMed, Wanfang (a Chinese database) and Weipu (a Chinese database) to find relevant publications published between 1995 and December 2015. This was supplemented by a secondary review of the reference lists of all retrieved papers to find additional relevant citations. Studies published in either English or Chinese that provided prevalence estimates of depression in Chinese university students were considered. Prevalence estimates of each eligible study were extracted and pooled in our meta-analysis using a random-effects model.

Results: A total of 39 studies conducted between 1997 and 2015 including 32,694 university students were analyzed. Our results indicate that the overall prevalence of depression among Chinese university students is 23.8% (95% CI: 19.9%-28.5%). Substantial heterogeneity in prevalence estimates was noted. Subgroup analysis revealed that the prevalence of depression among medical students is higher than among other students.

Conclusions: Overall, the prevalence of depression among Chinese university students is exceedingly high. This suggests that it is imperative that more attention be given to the development of appropriate mental healthcare strategies for university students in China.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Flow diagram of the study selection process.
From: Moher D, Liberati A, Tetzlaff J, Altman DG, The PRISMA Group (2009). Preferred Reporting /terns for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement. PLoS Med 6(6): e1000097. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed1000097 For more information, visit www.prisma-statement.org.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Forest plot of the prevalence of depression for the total population.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Plot of sensitivity analysis by excluding one study each time and the pooling estimate for the rest of the studies.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Filled funnel plot of the included studies (log odds ratio, horizontal axis; standard error, vertical axis).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Kessler RC, Berglund P, Demler O, Jin R, Koretz D, Merikangas KR, et al. The epidemiology of major depressive disorder: results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R). Jama. 2003; 289: 3095–3105. - PubMed
    1. Hysenbegasi A, Hass SL and Rowland CR. The impact of depression on the academic productivity of university students. Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics. 2005; 8: 145 - PubMed
    1. Hu T-w. The economic burden of depression and reimbursement policy in the Asia Pacific region. Australasian Psychiatry. 2004; 12: s11–s15. - PubMed
    1. Sobocki P, Lekander I, Borgström F, Ström O and Runeson B. The economic burden of depression in Sweden from 1997 to 2005. European Psychiatry. 2007; 22: 146–152. - PubMed
    1. Steptoe A, Tsuda A and Tanaka Y. Depressive symptoms, socio-economic background, sense of control, and cultural factors in university students from 23 countries. International journal of behavioral medicine. 2007; 14: 97–107. - PubMed

Publication types