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Public stigma associated with mental illnesses in Pakistani university students: a cross sectional survey.

ABSTRACT: Background. The objectives of the study were to explore the knowledge and attitudes of Pakistani university students toward mental illnesses. People with mental illnesses are challenged not only by their symptoms but also by the prejudices associated with their illness. Acknowledging the stigma of mental illness should be the first essential step toward devising an appropriate treatment plan. Methods. A cross-sectional survey was conducted at the University of Punjab, Lahore, CMH Lahore Medical and Dental College, Lahore, and University of Sargodha, Sub-campus Lahore, from February to May 2014. The self-administered questionnaire consisted of three sections: demographics, general knowledge of psychiatric illnesses, and Community Attitudes towards Mental Illnesses (CAMI) Scale. The questionnaire was distributed to 650 participants enrolled in different disciplines (Social Sciences, Medicine and Formal Sciences). Results. Response rate was 81% (527/650 respondents). Mean age was 20.98 years. Most of the students (331, 62.8%) had an urban background and studied Social Sciences (238, 45.2%). Four hundred and eighteen respondents (79.3%) considered religion very important and most respondents considered psychiatrists (334, 63.4%) and spiritual leaders (72, 13.7%) to be best able to treat mental illnesses. One hundred and sixty nine respondents (32.1%) considered black magic to be a cause of mental illness. Only 215 (41%) respondents had ever read an article on mental illnesses. Multiple regression analysis revealed study discipline, exposure, perceived causes of mental illnesses and superstitions to be significantly associated with attitudes towards mental illnesses (p < .05). Conclusion. Although low awareness and exposure were found in this sample of Pakistani university students, their attitude towards mental illnesses was generally positive. Most respondents gave supernatural explanations for mental illnesses but only a few believed that spiritual leaders can play a role in treatment.

SUBMITTER: Waqas A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4273937 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Background The COVID-19 pandemic brought immense changes to medical school curriculums world-wide, such as the widespread adoption of virtual learning. We sought to better understand the impact on medical students’ mental health at Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Parker, CO, United States. This study assessed the impact the pandemic had on anxiety and depression levels of medical students. It also assessed the impact of several domains on student mental health during the pandemic and how various sub-groups within the studied population were affected. Methods A cross-sectional survey was sent to students through an online anonymous google survey in May to June 2021, centered around the 7-item questionnaire used to screen for Generalized Anxiety Disorder GAD-7, 9-item questionnaire used to screen for depression PHQ-9, and self-designed questions to assess the personal impact of the pandemic. Data obtained were screened for error and analyzed with significance value of p < 0.05. Results A total of 152 responses were received (25.5% response rate). Of these, 64.1% identified as female, 75.8% were white, 50.3% were between ages 21–25, and 77.8% were first year medical students. During the pandemic, 79.6% of respondents felt more anxious and 65.1% felt more depressed. 67.8% of students reported feeling social isolation amidst the pandemic. Students living with friends were more likely to see a therapist for depression during the pandemic (p = 0.0169) and prescribed an antidepressant (p = 0.0394). Females and students in relationships were more likely to score higher on GAD-7 (p = 0.0194) and (p = 0.0244), respectively. Conclusion This study investigated the effect of the pandemic on medical students’ mental health and the need to address this issue. Results suggest that the pandemic had a negative impact on medical student’s mental health and that anxiety and depression levels worsened for pre-clinical medical students at Rocky Vista University. As such, it is imperative to incorporate additional resources to protect the well-being of medical students as they progress through their medical careers.

Project description:BackgroundIn Egypt, the shortage of mental health services, particularly for adolescents and young adults, is apparent. Electronic mental health (EMH) has been proposed as a solution to bridge the gap and better address the needs of young people. However, EMH is new to Egypt and its acceptability among target populations is crucial to its implementation and success.ObjectiveThe objective of this study is to explore the interest of Egyptian youth in EMH, identify perceived barriers to EMH, and inform the design of EMH tools to best address the needs of youth.MethodsA web-based cross-sectional survey was distributed among medical students at Tanta University in Egypt. Chi-square and one-way analysis of variance tests were performed for inferential analyses using a significance level of .05.ResultsOf the 707 individuals who completed the survey (90.9% response rate), 60.5% (428) were female, 62% (438) lived in urban and suburban areas, and the mean age of the sample was 20.5 (SD 1.8) years. The vast majority of participants (522/707, 73.8%) had already used the internet to find information about mental health problems, but the information was unsatisfactory for about half of them (386/707, 54.6%). Almost all students reported that they would prefer web-based therapy if EMH were available through a trustworthy national web-based platform for youth mental health (601/707, 85%). Students believed that emotional difficulties, social support, and coping strategies were the main topics that EMH should help with. The most common perceived barriers for EMH use in Egypt were concerns about privacy (382/707, 54%) and a lack of technology literacy and unfamiliarity with EMH (352/707, 50%).ConclusionsEMH is a promising strategy for addressing gaps in the mental health care for young people. To construct and implement a digital system of care that addresses the unique needs and preferences of youth, adolescents and young adults should be involved in the co-development and design.

Project description:OBJECTIVES:To assess stigma towards people with mental illness among Singapore medical and nursing students using the Opening Minds Stigma Scale for Health Care Providers (OMS-HC), and to examine the relationship of students' stigmatising attitudes with sociodemographic and education factors. DESIGN AND SETTING:Cross-sectional study conducted in Singapore PARTICIPANTS: The study was conducted among 1002 healthcare (502?medical and 500?nursing) students during April to September 2016. Students had to be Singapore citizens or permanent residents and enrolled in public educational institutions to be included in the study. The mean (SD) age of the participants was 21.3 (3.3) years, with the majority being females (71.1%). 75.2% of the participants were Chinese, 14.1% were Malays, and 10.7% were either Indians or of other ethnicity. METHODS:Factor analysis was conducted to validate the OMS-HC scale in the study sample and to examine its factor structure. Descriptive statistics and multivariate linear regression were used to examine sociodemographic and education correlates. RESULTS:Factor analysis revealed a three-factor structure with 14 items. The factors were labelled as attitudes towards help-seeking and people with mental illness, social distance and disclosure. Multivariable linear regression analysis showed that medical students were found to be associated with lower total OMS-HC scores (P<0.05), less negative attitudes (P<0.001) and greater disclosure (P<0.05) than nursing students. Students who had a monthly household income of below S$4000 had more unfavourable attitudes than those with an income of SGD$10 000 and above (P<0.05). Having attended clinical placement was associated with more negative attitudes (P<0.05) among the students. CONCLUSION:Healthcare students generally possessed positive attitudes towards help-seeking and persons with mental illness, though they preferred not to disclose their own mental health condition. Academic curriculum may need to enhance the component of mental health training, particularly on reducing stigma in certain groups of students.

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Public stigma associated with mental illnesses in Pakistani university students: a cross sectional survey.

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