The results of Oakland University’s participation in the 2012 National College Health Assessment were released by Graham Health Center last week.

The assessment, developed by the American College Health Association, is a survey designed to help colleges and universities gather data about the health habits, behaviors and perceptions of their students.

The assessment contains more than 300 questions and has been administered to roughly 825,000 students from schools across the country since it was first developed in spring 2000.

Nancy Jansen, Graham Health Center director and adult nurse practitioner said Oakland participated in the fall 2012 segment of the survey for the first time in more than 10 years.

The survey was sent to 4,000 randomly selected OU students via email, and 558 students ultimately responded and completed the survey.

“We had a 14 percent response rate,” Jansen said. “It was a little lower than predicted.”

The assessment is divided into nine sections: general health, disease and injury prevention, academic impacts, violence/abusive relationships and personal safety, alcohol/tobacco and drug use, sexual behavior, nutrition and exercise, mental health and sleep.

The most important outcome of the assessment will be university programs designed to meet students’ health needs as shown by survey results, according to Julie Proctor, Graham Health Center’s health and wellness coordinator.

“We want to highlight resources on campus that will help students,” she said.

Some of the most significant results relate to health obstacles that could impact learning, according to Jansen.

She said the results were narrowed down to the top seven impediments to learning for OU students, in order of most to least impactful: stress, anxiety, work, sleep difficulties, Internet use, cold/flu and depression.

The 2012 national results will be released by the ACHA in upcoming weeks, which will compare OU’s results to national averages, according to Jansen.

More of OU’s results in the survey will be released as soon as the 2012 national results become available.

 

Of those surveyed:

-73 percent female-identifying, 25 percent male-identifying

-81 percent white

-93 percent single/never married

-93 percent heterosexual, 7 percent LGBTQ-identifying

-56 percent lived at home, 26 percent lived in campus housing

-Average age: 20 years old