Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Poor mental health can be due to depression, anxiety or stress. Anxiety is one of the most common mental health problems among adolescents and the risk of developing anxiety is greatly increased during adolescence. The objective of this study is to compare the prevalence of anxiety among school-going adolescents in Malaysia in 2012 and2017. METHODS: Data was obtained from NHMS 2012 and2017 which targeted adolescents aged 13-17 years. The number of respondents recruited in 2012 was 24,708 and 27,497 in 2017. The sampling frame used was from the list of secondary schools from the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Rural and Regional Development. A self-administered, validated questionnaire utilizing the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale (DASS-21) was used. Descriptive analysis was done using SPSS version 20. RESULTS: The prevalence of anxiety was 39.6% (95%CI: 38.23, 41.06) for NHMS 2012 and 39.7% (95%CI: 38.39, 41.06) for NHMS 2017. Among males, the prevalence was 35.2% in 2012 and 37.1% in 2017. The prevalence of ever having had sexual intercourse in adolescents with anxiety had increased sharply from 9.7% in 2012 to 52.1% in 2017. The prevalence of anxiety among those who smoked cigarettes was 47.3% (95%CI: 44.45, 50.07) in 2017 which was three times higher compared to NHMS 2012 at 12.5% (95%CI: 11.10, 14.00). DISCUSSION: The prevalence of anxiety among adolescents is worrying with vast increases from 2012 to 2017 seen among adolescents who had sexual intercourse, smoked or were males. Therefore, mental health promotion and prevention targeting these adolescents should be prioritised.
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@proceedings{APCPH-2019-243,
title = {Prevalence of Anxiety Among Adolescents in Malaysia: Findings from The National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2012 \& 2017.},
author = {Rasidah Jamaluddin and Nik Adilah Shahein and Mohamad Aznuddin Abd Razak and NorAin Ab Wahab and Fazly Azry Abdul Aziz and Chan Ying Ying and Norhafizah Sahril and Rajini Sooryanarayana and Norazizah Ibrahim Wong and Noor Ani Ahmad},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-07-22},
urldate = {2019-07-22},
journal = {6th Asia-Pacific Conference on Public Health 2019 Proceedings},
issue = {6},
abstract = {INTRODUCTION: Poor mental health can be due to depression, anxiety or stress. Anxiety is one of the most common mental health problems among adolescents and the risk of developing anxiety is greatly increased during adolescence. The objective of this study is to compare the prevalence of anxiety among school-going adolescents in Malaysia in 2012 and2017. METHODS: Data was obtained from NHMS 2012 and2017 which targeted adolescents aged 13-17 years. The number of respondents recruited in 2012 was 24,708 and 27,497 in 2017. The sampling frame used was from the list of secondary schools from the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Rural and Regional Development. A self-administered, validated questionnaire utilizing the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale (DASS-21) was used. Descriptive analysis was done using SPSS version 20. RESULTS: The prevalence of anxiety was 39.6% (95%CI: 38.23, 41.06) for NHMS 2012 and 39.7% (95%CI: 38.39, 41.06) for NHMS 2017. Among males, the prevalence was 35.2% in 2012 and 37.1% in 2017. The prevalence of ever having had sexual intercourse in adolescents with anxiety had increased sharply from 9.7% in 2012 to 52.1% in 2017. The prevalence of anxiety among those who smoked cigarettes was 47.3% (95%CI: 44.45, 50.07) in 2017 which was three times higher compared to NHMS 2012 at 12.5% (95%CI: 11.10, 14.00). DISCUSSION: The prevalence of anxiety among adolescents is worrying with vast increases from 2012 to 2017 seen among adolescents who had sexual intercourse, smoked or were males. Therefore, mental health promotion and prevention targeting these adolescents should be prioritised.},
note = {Type: POSTER PRESENTATION; Organisation:},
keywords = {anxiety adolescents, National Health and Morbidity Survey Malaysia.},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {proceedings}
}