Methods: The study was a cross-sectional survey study. The sample included all 1st to 6thyear dental students of the Faculty of Dentistry, Prince of Songkla University, Thailand. All dental students were invited to complete the questionnaire for demographic data, smoking and drinking survey, and the Thai General Health Questionnaire 12 (Thai GHQ-12). The data were analyzed using mean, percentage, descriptive, Fisher’s Exact test and multiple logistic regression analysis.
Results: There were 289 dental students (83.3%) who completed the questionnaire. Data collections were conducted during January to February 2012. Only one student was current smoker. Male dental students were more likely to receive second smoke more than 4 days a week than the female (p=0.004). 71 out of 266 dental students (26.7%) had a Thai GHQ-12 score more than 2 which indicate chance of mental health problem. Multivariate analysis revealed dental class as the only factor significantly associated with the students’ mental health. The clinical dental students (5th to 6th year) were 2.9 times more likely to have mental health problems than the preclinical dental students (95%CI=1.734-4.976). However, mental health problems were not correlated to drinking habit.
Conclusions: Smoking prevalence is low among dental students at Prince of Songkla University. The clinical dental students were more likely to suffer mental health problem than the preclinical dental students.