Health and wellbeing of staff working at higher education institutions globally during the post-COVID-19 pandemic period: evidence from a cross-sectional study

Rahman, Muhammad Aziz; Das, Pritimoy; Lam, Louisa; Alif, Sheikh M.; Sultana, Farhana; Salehin, Masudus; Banik, Biswajit; Joseph, Bindu; Parul, Parul; Lewis, Andrew; Statham, Dixie; Porter, Joanne; Foster, Kim; Islam, Sheikh Mohammed Shariful; Cross, Wendy; Jacob, Alycia; Hua, Susan; Wang, Qun; Chair, Sek Ying; Chien, Wai Tong; Widati, Sri; Nurmala, Ira; Puspaningsih, Ni Nyoman Tri; Hammoud, Majeda; Omar, Khatijah; Halim, Muhammad Abi Sofian Abdul; Gamal-Eltrabily, Mohammed; Ortiz, Georgina; Al Maskari, Turkiya Saleh; Al Alawi, Salwa Saleh Mohammed; Al-Rahbi, Badriya Saleh; Arulappan, Judie; Ahmad, Akhlaq; Al Laham, Nahed; Mahmud, Ilias; Alasqah, Ibrahim; Noorbhai, Habib; Chang, Shao-Liang; Chen, Yi-Lung; Comlekci, Mehmet Fatih; Basol, Oguz; Saddik, Basema; Hayman, Rick; Polman, Remco

doi:10.1186/s12889-024-19365-1

Table 4 Predictors for higher psychological distress among the study participants (based on the K-10 scale)

From: Health and wellbeing of staff working at higher education institutions globally during the post-COVID-19 pandemic period: evidence from a cross-sectional study

Characteristics	Low psychological distress (total score 10–15)		Moderate to Very high psychological distress (total score 16–50)		Unadjusted analyses			Adjusted analyses#
Characteristics	n	%	n	%	p	ORs	95% CIs	p	AORs	95% CIs
Total study participants	619		1685
Age groups
18–29 years	43	19.37	179	80.63		Ref			Ref
30–59 years	489	26.1	1386	73.92	*0.031*	*0.69*	*0.48–0.97*	0.034	0.69	0.48–0.97
≥ 60 years	71	43.29	93	56.71	< *0.001*	*0.31*	*0.20–0.50*	< *0.001*	*0.31*	*0.20–0.50*
Gender
Male	260	30.13	603	69.87		Ref			Ref
Female	353	25.12	1052	74.88	*0.009*	*1.28*	*1.06–1.55*	Not selected in the multivariate model
Highest educational/vocational qualification
Certificate/Diploma/Trade qualifications	54	26.1	153	73.91		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
Bachelors level	129	24.76	392	75.24	0.710	1.07	0.74–1.55
Masters level	189	25.27	559	74.73	0.811	1.04	0.73–1.48
Doctoral level	245	30.14	568	69.86	0.254	0.82	0.58–1.15
Duration of work
< 5 years	126	25.05	377	74.95		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
6–10 years	123	25.52	359	74.48	0.866	0.98	0.73–1.30
> 10 years	358	28.21	911	71.79	0.178	0.85	0.67–1.08
Current living status
Live without family members (on your own/shared house)	85	22.73	289	77.27		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
Live with family members (spouse/partners/siblings/children)	527	27.71	1375	72.29	*0.048*	*0.77*	*0.59–0.99*	Not selected in the multivariate model
Types of job
Teaching	132	30.28	304	69.72		Ref			Ref
Research	116	26.61	320	73.39	0.230	1.19	0.99–1.61	Not selected in the multivariate model
Admin	234	24.38	726	75.62	*0.020*	*1.35*	*1.05–1.73*	0.019	1.26	1.04–1.52
Leadership	137	29.03	335	70.97	0.680	1.06	0.79–1.41	Not selected in the multivariate model
Types of appointment
Professional/Admin	217	24.3	676	75.7		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
Academic (Teaching and/or Research)	376	29.1	917	70.92	*0.014*	*0.78*	*0.64–0.95*
Leadership	26	23.01	87	76.99	0.763	1.07	0.68–1.71
Levels of appointment
Lecturer	82	24.26	256	75.74		Ref			Ref
Senior Lecturer/Assistant Professor	149	33.79	292	66.21	*0.004*	*0.63*	*0.45–0.86*	< *0.001*	*0.58*	*0.46–0.74*
Associate Professor	60	30.61	136	69.39	0.110	0.73	0.49–1.07	0.015	0.66	0.47–0.92
Professor	83	34.73	156	65.27	*0.006*	*0.6*	*0.41–0.87*	< *0.001*	*0.55*	*0.41–0.74*
Other	233	22.98	781	77.02	0.629	1.07	0.80–1.43
Prefer not to say	9	15.25	50	84.75	0.133	1.77	0.84–3.77
Current employment condition
Full time	504	26.72	1382	73.28		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
Part time	115	27.51	303	72.49	0.742	0.96	0.76–1.22	Not selected in the multivariate model
Self-reported co-morbidities
No	382	31.13	845	68.87		Ref			Ref
Single co-morbidity	137	24.25	428	75.75	*0.003*	*1.41*	*1.13–1.77*	0.037	1.29	1.01–1.63
Multiple co-morbidities	100	19.53	412	80.47	< *0.001*	*1.87*	*1.45–2.39*	*0.006*	*1.46*	*1.11–1.92*
Self-reported co-morbidities
No	382	31.13	845	68.87		Ref			Ref
Mental health issue	31	10.76	257	89.24	< *0.001*	*3.75*	*2.53–5.54*	< *0.001*	*2.73*	*1.79–4.15*
Other co-morbidity	206	26.11	853	73.89	*0.016*	*1.28*	*1.05–1.56*
Current smoking
Never smoker	491	27.96	1265	72.04		Ref			Ref
Ever smoker (Daily, Non-daily, Ex)	128	23.36	420	76.64	*0.034*	*1.27*	*1.02–1.59*	0.029	1.29	1.03–1.61
Increased smoking over the last 6 months
No	11	12.79	75	87.21		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
Yes	33	20.62	127	79.38	0.130	0.56	0.26–1.18	Not selected in the multivariate model
Current alcohol drinking
No	250	27.32	665	72.68		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
Yes	369	26.57	1020	73.43	0.689	1.04	0.86–1.25	Not selected in the multivariate model
Increased alcohol drinking over the last 6 months
No	240	30.77	540	69.23		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
Yes	10	7.52	123	72.48	< *0.001*	*5.47*	*2.82–10.6*	Not selected in the multivariate model
Physical activity for at least 30-min in the past week (days)
None	101	21.13	377	78.87		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
1–3 days	281	25.41	825	74.59	0.068	0.79	0.60–1.01
4–7 days	236	32.87	482	67.13	< *0.001*	*0.55*	*0.42–0.72*
Experience related to COVID-19 pandemic
No known exposure to COVID-19	387	25.34	1140	74.66		Ref			Ref
Tested positive for COVID-19	232	29.94	543	70.06	*0.019*	*0.79*	*0.66–0.96*	*0.012*	*0.78*	*0.64–0.95*
Symptoms of long COVID
No	487	30.94	1087	69.06		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
Yes	117	18	533	82	< *0.001*	*2.04*	*1.62–2.56*	Not selected in the multivariate model
Doses of COVID vaccine taken
None	14	26.92	38	73.08		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
Double	159	25.6	462	74.4	0.834	1.07	0.57–2.03
Triple or more	445	27.37	1181	72.63	0.944	0.98	0.52–1.82
Last checked/measured blood pressure
Never checked blood pressure	43	24.71	131	75.29		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
Checked within last 6 months	404	28.25	1026	71.75	0.326	0.83	0.58–1.19
Checked > 6 months ago	164	25.04	491	74.96	0.930	0.98	0.67–1.45
Last checked/measured blood lipid profile
Never checked blood lipid profile	162	24.58	497	75.42		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
Checked within last 6 months	232	28.89	571	71.11	0.065	0.8	0.63–1.01
Checked > 6 months ago	217	27.4	575	72.6	0.224	0.86	0.68–1.10
Last checked/measured blood sugar
Never checked blood sugar	124	25.89	355	74.11		Ref			Ref
Checked within last 6 months	288	29.69	682	70.31	0.131	0.82	0.65–1.06	0.038	1.23	1.01–1.50
Checked > 6 months ago	198	24.47	611	75.53	0.572	1.08	0.83–1.40	Not selected in the multivariate model
Last visited a healthcare provider for general health assessment
Never visited for general health assessment	99	25.92	283	74.08		Ref		Not selected in the multivariate model
Visited within last 6 months	275	27.42	728	72.58	0.574	0.93	0.71–1.21
Visited > 6 months ago	239	27.22	639	72.78	0.631	0.93	0.71–1.23
Job insecurity (JIS categories)
No (total score 1–3)	573	29.16	1392	70.8		Ref			Ref
Yes (total score 4–5)	46	13.57	293	86.43	< *0.001*	*2.62*	*1.89–3.63*	*0.009*	*1.61*	*1.13–2.30*
Perceived burnout (Burnout scale categories)
No (score 1–4)	553	33.86	1080	66.14		Ref			Ref
Yes (score 5–7)	65	9.73	603	90.27	< *0.001*	*4.75*	*3.61–6.25*	< *0.001*	*3.22*	*2.41–4.31*
Perceived status of own mental health
Poor to Fair	8	1.52	519	98.48		Ref			Ref
Good to Excellent	609	34.35	1164	65.65	< *0.001*	*0.03*	*0.01–0.05*	< *0.001*	*0.05*	*0.02–0.10*
Levels of coping (BRCS categories)
Low resilient copers (score 4–13)	149	15.49	813	84.51		Ref			Ref
Medium to High resilient copers (score 14–20)	467	35.46	850	64.54	< *0.001*	*0.33*	*0.27–0.41*	< *0.001*	*0.48*	*0.39–0.60*

^#stepwise logistic regression method was applied and variables were selected as significant level p < 0.05 in the univariate analyses and p < 0.01 in the multivariate analyses

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