الفهرس 
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Abstract
Summary
Introduction:
Health services in Egypt are currently directed, financed, and provided by agencies in all three sectors of the economy; government sector, parastatal sector, and the private sector. (6)
One of the most important governmental sectors is the University Medical Center (UMC) which provides health services, in almost all medical fields, for the university students with little fees. There are doctors in different specialties for diagnostic work-up by examination and investigations which may include laboratory and radiological tests, also treatment is provided by the University Medical Centers (UMCs) with little fees. It is a good way for the university students to meet their health needs (3, 7).
The university students are part of our young people. Our young people, as the next generation, shape the future of our country. Young people deserve to be supported and empowered to reach their full potential and improve their health. Having healthy young people ensures a healthier society for our country, both now and in the future. Youth health and wellbeing focuses on the healthy development of young people aged 18-24 (3, 5). So that, their health needs must be met.
Our study focused on identifying the young people perceived health needs and attitude towards use of the University Medical Centers (UMCs) as an approach of service delivery to meet the health needs among Sohag University students.
In order to achieve these goals, a cross sectional study was done on Sohag University students using a validated questionnaire. The study was performed in the academic year 2022/2023on (435) students from four randomly selected faculties so that results could be generalized on Sohag university students.
The aim of the study is to:
1-assessment of the unmet health needs of Sohag university students.
2-identify the students` awareness and attitude towards the use of UMC in Sohag university campus.
Methodology:
It is a cross-sectional study in Sohag University, four faculties were selected randomly (medicine, pharmacy, education, specific education). The study was done on 435 students from the four randomly selected faculties during the academic year (2022/ 2023). Date was collected from students through a questionnaire tool after explanation the purpose of the study and their informed consent to participate in the study was taken.
Ethical considerations:
• Approval of the ethical committee of Sohag faculty of medicine was secured.
• Informed consent was taken.
Results:
The main findings of the current study were summarized as follows:
As regard the socio-demographic characteristics. As regard the age, which is numeric normally distributed data, the mean age was (20.83±1.42) years, the median was (21) and the range was 7(18-25)years, the independent T-test was done and there were no statistical significant difference between the two studied groups as regard age distribution. As regard the faculty, there was a statistical significant difference between the two studied groups as the p-value was <0.05, (17.7%) of those who had unmet health needs were from faculty of medicine, (20.3%) of them were from faculty of pharmacy, (32.8%) were from faculty of education, (29.2%) were from faculty of specific education. Also, there was a significant difference between rural and urban residence as regard having unmet health needs, the percentage among those who had unmet needs were (56.2%), (53.1%) in rural and urban respectively. There was no statistical significant difference as regard gender distribution, nearly half of those who had unmet health needs were males and the other half were females with a percentage of (47.4%), (52.6%) respectively. There was also no statistical significant difference as regard the current residence, working and marital status.
As regard health description by the students, chronic diseases distribution and distribution of students who felt pain >6 months, there was a high statistical significant difference (p-value <0.0001) between the two groups. As regard health description, among those who had unmet health needs there were nearly one-third (31.2%) with poor health, the remaining (68.83%) of the unmet health needs had good health. As regard chronic diseases and chronic pain distribution, there was less than one-fourth (23.4%) of the unmet health needs with chronic diseases and the same percentage for chronic pain. They were all highly significant with p-value<0.0001
As regard the comparison between the two groups of students as regard the most important unmet health needs among youth, among those who had unmet health needs, there were more than half of them (59.2%) who thought that dermatological needs are one of the most important, and there was a statistical significant difference between them as p-value <0.05. As regard sexual/reproductive needs, there were (68.3%) thought it`s one of the most important unmet needs and it`s statistically significant, p-value <0.05. more than half of those who had unmet health needs (54.8%), thought that nutritional needs are one of the most important unmet needs, that was a statistically significant difference as p-value <0.05. There was no statistical significant difference as regard the visual needs, hearing, ”chest, heart and abdomen” needs, psychological, neuromuscular and other needs.
As regard the students` awareness of the university medical center (UMC), More than of the students (55.4%) knew the UMC. Of whom (42.7%) knew from their friends which had the highest percentage. (13.69%) knew the UMC as they used it before. (8.7%) knew from advertising. (4.1%) knew from health seminars. The remaining (30.7%) knew by other ways. Less than one-third (30.8%) of the studied students knew the location of the UMC. One fifth (20.2%) of the studied students knew the working hours of the center. Only (17.9%) knew the services provided by the center. (14.4%) of the studied students had used the center. Among those who didn`t use the center (44.2%) had no health problem, (9.4%) didn`t use the center due to shyness, (8%) due to high cost, (4.3%) due to that Working hours weren`t appropriate, (34%) due to other causes. More than one-quarter (27.8%) of the studied students knew someone else who had used the center.
As regard the attitude of students towards UMC, (64.4%) of the studied students didn`t know the Service provider efficiency and (13.6%) thought it was good, (16.1%) of students thought service provider handling was moderate, (14%) of students thought center opening hours was good, (17.5%) of students thought position of the center was good, (17%) of students thought service price was good.
Strengths of the study
•The study was carried out on randomly selected 4 faculties which include 2 practical and 2 theoretical faculties and included students at all grades so the results can be generalized on Sohag university students.
Constrains and limitations of the study
Results are not representative to the whole youth in Upper Egypt. They are limited to university students as there are groups of youth who did not join university education.
The questionnaire didn`t contain questions about acute diseases which is more common than chronic in youth.
Conclusion:
Our study (a cross-sectional study) was done on Sohag University students using a validated questionnaire. The study was performed in the academic year 2022/2023on (435) students from four randomly selected faculties to assess the unmet health needs and to assess the awareness and attitude, of Sohag University Students, to the University Medical Center (UMC).
In our study, more than three-quartiles of studied students (76.1%) reported that the current health services did not meet young people health needs.
The prevalence of unmet health care needs among our sample which consists of university students (18 years and over) was 44.1%.
The highest percentage of the study population reported unmet health care due to problems of availability, also, the highest reason related to availability was ”waiting too long” and then, the acceptability problems of the health services which include causes like being too busy, did not bother to seek medical help or felt it would be inadequate. The highest rates of unmet need had reported among people who resided in rural communities, were female, were of younger age, and did not have regular medical doctor visits.
There are special unmet health needs for the young population in Sohag University, and a high need for providing psychological support to meet the psychological needs of the students, as it was the most important unmet health need among our studied population, followed by nutritional needs.
In our study, more than half of the studied students (55.4%) knew that there was a UMC, the highest percentage of them knew about the UMC from their friends. However in our study, less than one-third of students knew the center`s location, about one-fifth knew the working hours, only 17% knew the services of the center and only 14.4% had used the center.
As regard the attitude of students towards UMC. (64.4%) of the studied students didn`t know the Service provider efficiency and (13.6%) believed it was good, (16.1%) of students thought service provider handling was moderate, (14%) of students thought center opening hours was good, (17.5%) of students thought position of the center was good, (17%) of students thought service price was good.
Recommendations:
Based on the results of our study, it is recommended to:
• put plan in health care service to treat causes of unmet health needs that attributed to availability and acceptability problems.
• control strategies and guidelines will give to the most common reported reason for an unmet health care need, such as ”waiting too long time”.
• plan afternoon time for the students to use these services in suitable time for them.
• improve quality and quantity of the UMC services to overcome the reasons of unmet health needs of the young people.
• providing more services for psychological support to meet the psychological needs of the students, as it was the most important unmet health need among our studied population, followed by nutritional needs.
• increasing awareness of students about existing “on campus” UMC is essential to improve the utilization rate. It could be obtained through different advertisement methods as on the social media, on the university website, multiple posters in prominent areas in the university, and empowerment of the role of peers.
• further more studies are needed and recommended to understand the unmet health needs of young adults and to understand the attitude and opinion of all young people whether joining university education or not, so that, we can help to improve their health status.
• take into account the acute diseases which are more common than the chronic diseases among youth, so we need a validated questionnaire special for youth.