Background: Mental distress is an important public health problem and becoming a common health problem among university students. This systematic review and meta-analysis will provide the pooled prevalence of mental distress and identify determinant factors associated with mental distress among university students in Ethiopia.
Method: A systematic search of PubMed, EMBASE, and PsycINFO databases will be conducted. In addition, we will search grey literature resources such as a database/website of dissertations and theses, WHO websites, and websites of professional bodies. Reference lists of the selected articles will also be searched for additional articles. All observational studies reporting the prevalence of mental distress and/or associated factors among university students in Ethiopia will be included. Pooled prevalence with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) will be calculated using random-effects and quality-effects models. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses will be performed. Heterogeneity between studies and evidence of publication bias will also be assessed.
Discussion: The proposed systematic review and meta-analysis will provide a pooled prevalence of mental distress and associated factors to assist policy-makers and programme managers in developing evidence-based mental health promotion and prevention programmes in university/college settings.
Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD42017067223.
Keywords: Ethiopia; Mental distress; Prevalence; University students.