Correlation between green space, psychiatric disturbance, and academic performance of students at faculty of Public Health, University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City

Abstract

The cross-sectional study was conducted on 216 students of Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy in 2019 to determine the prevalence and describe the correlation between green space, psychiatric disturbance, and academic performance of students at faculty of Public Health. Psychiatric disturbance was assessed using the Self Reporting Questionnaire 20 (SRQ20) questionnaire developed by World Health Organization. Green space density (NDVI index) within a radius of 500 m, 1 km and 3 km around student living area was calculated using satellite imagery of Landsat 8 and ArcGIS 10.4.1 software. Of the 216 students participated in the study, the prevalence of psychiatric disturbance was 57.4%. The level of psychiatric disturbance (median score) was 7.68. Green space density (NDVI index) within a radius of 500 m, 1 km and 3 km around the living area of students was very low, respectively 0.17; 0.19 and 0.25. There was no statistically signifcant association between the green space and psychiatric disturbance. There was a statistically signifcant association between green space and accademic perfomance. If the NDVI index within a radius of 500 m, 1 km and 3 km increases by 1 unit, the average score of GPA of the frst semester will increase by 8.62; 6.86 and 2.44 points. The green space density is a positive effect to student’s accademic performance.