ABSTRACT
Objective@#To understand the correlation between depression, sleep quality and dental caries among college students in Chongqing, so as so provide reference basis for targeted health education.@*Methods@#From January to June 2022, a multi stage sampling method was used to select 627 students from six colleges in Chongqing. According to the Fourth National Epidemiological Survey of Oral Health and World Health Organization standards, dental caries were examined and diagnosed. The Self Rating Depression Scale (SDS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) Questionnaire and general situation questionnaire were adopted to investigate depressive symptoms and sleep quality of college students. Correlation analysis was performed to study the correlation between depression, sleep quality and dental caries.@*Results@#The prevalence of dental caries among college students was 42.1%, and there was a statistically significant difference in dental caries prevalence among college students depending on their gender, major, body shape, parental education level, and family sources ( χ 2=14.49, 16.81, 7.82, 15.14, 7.34, P <0.05). The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 13.9%, and there was a statistically significant difference in SDS scores and depression prevalence among students of different body types ( χ 2=10.99, P <0.05). The PSQI score was (4.36±0.94) points, and the rate of poor sleep quality was 26.16%. Furthermore, there was a statistically significant difference in the PSQI score and rate of poor sleep quality among college students of different genders and body types ( χ 2=25.41, 17.59, P <0.05). There was a certain correlation between the occurrence of dental caries and poor sleep quality and depressive symptoms among college students, with contingency coefficients of 0.15 and 0.13, respectively ( P <0.05).@*Conclusion@#The prevalence of dental caries is high among college students in Chongqing. The occurrence of dental caries may be related to depression and sleep quality.