A cross-sectional study on the physical and mental health condition of university newcomers in Bangladesh

Abstract In Bangladesh, an extensive enrollment examination is required to enroll in different universities, where students from all 64 districts of Bangladesh compete to get a place. Students either migrate from their home districts to another place or continue from home if they reside in the same...

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Main Authors: Arpita Roy, Sadia Amrin, Md. Ashraful Alam, Hafsa Akter, Sadhon Kumar Ray, Md. Momin Islam, Munawar Sultana
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer 2025-08-01
Series:Discover Mental Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/s44192-025-00276-5
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author Arpita Roy
Sadia Amrin
Md. Ashraful Alam
Hafsa Akter
Sadhon Kumar Ray
Md. Momin Islam
Munawar Sultana
author_facet Arpita Roy
Sadia Amrin
Md. Ashraful Alam
Hafsa Akter
Sadhon Kumar Ray
Md. Momin Islam
Munawar Sultana
author_sort Arpita Roy
collection DOAJ
description Abstract In Bangladesh, an extensive enrollment examination is required to enroll in different universities, where students from all 64 districts of Bangladesh compete to get a place. Students either migrate from their home districts to another place or continue from home if they reside in the same city. However, it is undeniable that there is a huge and sudden change in the lifestyle of the newly enrolled students. This study was conducted on 50 universities in Bangladesh to investigate the overall health conditions of the university newcomers (N = 605) in six academic sessions from 2016 to 2022. The study showed that more than half of the students (52.6%) became physically sick after admission. The majority (81.5%) of the respondents felt mental pressure, and the maximum (83.3%) were concerned about their mental health condition, which is often unnoticed for this group of students. This also highlighted that during COVID-19, participants’ mental health deteriorated drastically (71.7%). Nevertheless, the medical centers of the respective institutions were completely heedless in the majority (79.3%) of cases. Lastly, the respondents themselves tried to provide appropriate suggestions that will be helpful for the future well-being management of the newcomers. Thus, unveiling the overall health condition of newcomers is necessary so that every respective individual becomes aware of the condition and the current situation changes into a student-friendly and lively environment. To our knowledge, this is one of the first kinds of investigation in Bangladesh.
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issn 2731-4383
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series Discover Mental Health
spelling doaj-art-fa750281701d4a64a0cdc22453f35eef2025-08-24T11:10:21ZengSpringerDiscover Mental Health2731-43832025-08-015111810.1007/s44192-025-00276-5A cross-sectional study on the physical and mental health condition of university newcomers in BangladeshArpita Roy0Sadia Amrin1Md. Ashraful Alam2Hafsa Akter3Sadhon Kumar Ray4Md. Momin Islam5Munawar Sultana6Department of Microbiology, University of DhakaDepartment of Microbiology, University of DhakaDepartment of Microbiology, University of DhakaDepartment of Microbiology, University of DhakaDepartment of Microbiology, University of DhakaDepartment of Meteorology, University of DhakaDepartment of Microbiology, University of DhakaAbstract In Bangladesh, an extensive enrollment examination is required to enroll in different universities, where students from all 64 districts of Bangladesh compete to get a place. Students either migrate from their home districts to another place or continue from home if they reside in the same city. However, it is undeniable that there is a huge and sudden change in the lifestyle of the newly enrolled students. This study was conducted on 50 universities in Bangladesh to investigate the overall health conditions of the university newcomers (N = 605) in six academic sessions from 2016 to 2022. The study showed that more than half of the students (52.6%) became physically sick after admission. The majority (81.5%) of the respondents felt mental pressure, and the maximum (83.3%) were concerned about their mental health condition, which is often unnoticed for this group of students. This also highlighted that during COVID-19, participants’ mental health deteriorated drastically (71.7%). Nevertheless, the medical centers of the respective institutions were completely heedless in the majority (79.3%) of cases. Lastly, the respondents themselves tried to provide appropriate suggestions that will be helpful for the future well-being management of the newcomers. Thus, unveiling the overall health condition of newcomers is necessary so that every respective individual becomes aware of the condition and the current situation changes into a student-friendly and lively environment. To our knowledge, this is one of the first kinds of investigation in Bangladesh.https://doi.org/10.1007/s44192-025-00276-5University studentsNewcomersPhysical and mental healthCOVIDMedicineBangladesh
spellingShingle Arpita Roy
Sadia Amrin
Md. Ashraful Alam
Hafsa Akter
Sadhon Kumar Ray
Md. Momin Islam
Munawar Sultana
A cross-sectional study on the physical and mental health condition of university newcomers in Bangladesh
Discover Mental Health
University students
Newcomers
Physical and mental health
COVID
Medicine
Bangladesh
title A cross-sectional study on the physical and mental health condition of university newcomers in Bangladesh
title_full A cross-sectional study on the physical and mental health condition of university newcomers in Bangladesh
title_fullStr A cross-sectional study on the physical and mental health condition of university newcomers in Bangladesh
title_full_unstemmed A cross-sectional study on the physical and mental health condition of university newcomers in Bangladesh
title_short A cross-sectional study on the physical and mental health condition of university newcomers in Bangladesh
title_sort cross sectional study on the physical and mental health condition of university newcomers in bangladesh
topic University students
Newcomers
Physical and mental health
COVID
Medicine
Bangladesh
url https://doi.org/10.1007/s44192-025-00276-5
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