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Recognition of mental disorders: findings from a cross-sectional study among medical students in Singapore.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES:To assess recognition of five mental disorders (alcohol abuse, dementia, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and schizophrenia) among a sample of medical students using a vignette-based approach. Socio-demographic predictors of correct recognition were also explored. DESIGN:Cross-sectional online survey. PARTICIPANTS:Medical students studying in Singapore. METHODS:This was a cross-sectional online study among medical students (n=502) who were randomly assigned one of the five vignettes. Students were instructed to read the vignette, then answer the open text question, 'What do you think the person in the vignette is suffering from?' Multiple logistic regression was performed to determine the predictors of correct recognition. RESULTS:81.7% could correctly recognise the condition described in the vignette. Depression was most well recognised (93.0%), followed by alcohol abuse (89.0%), OCD (87.1%) and dementia (79.2%), while only 60.0% of students correctly recognised schizophrenia. Females were significantly more likely to correctly recognise the disorders, while the odds of correct recognition were significantly higher among fourth-year and fifth-year students compared with first-year students. Compared with depression, dementia and schizophrenia were significantly more likely to be mislabelled. CONCLUSION:While overall correct recognition was high (81.7%), this did vary by disorder, where schizophrenia (60%) was the most poorly recognised condition. Given that primary care providers are often the first professional help-seeking source for people with mental health problems, medical students should be equipped with the skills and ability to recognise signs and symptoms of various mental illnesses.

SUBMITTER: Picco L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5778286 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Recognition of mental disorders: findings from a cross-sectional study among medical students in Singapore.

Picco Louisa L Seow Esmond E Chua Boon Yiang BY Mahendran Rathi R Verma Swapna S Chong Siow Ann SA Subramaniam Mythily M

BMJ open 20171221 12

<h4>Objectives</h4>To assess recognition of five mental disorders (alcohol abuse, dementia, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and schizophrenia) among a sample of medical students using a vignette-based approach. Socio-demographic predictors of correct recognition were also explored.<h4>Design</h4>Cross-sectional online survey.<h4>Participants</h4>Medical students studying in Singapore.<h4>Methods</h4>This was a cross-sectional online study among medical students (n=502) who were r ...[more]

PMID: 29273669

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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.

Project description:Objectives(1) Investigate and explore whether different classes of associative stigma (the process by which a person experiences stigmatisation as a result of an association with another stigmatised person) could be identified using latent class analysis; (2) determine the sociodemographic and employment-related correlates of associative stigma and (3) examine the relationship between associative stigma and job satisfaction, among mental health professionals.DesignCross-sectional online survey.ParticipantsDoctors, nurses and allied health staff, working in Singapore.MethodsStaff (n=462) completed an online survey, which comprised 11 associative stigma items and also captured sociodemographic and job satisfaction-related information. Latent class analysis was used to classify associative stigma on patterns of observed categorical variables. Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine associations between sociodemographic and employment-related factors and the different classes, while multiple linear regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between associative stigma and job satisfaction.ResultsThe latent class analysis revealed that items formed a three-class model where the classes were classified as 'no/low associative stigma', 'moderate associative stigma' and 'high associative stigma'. 48.7%, 40.5% and 10.8% of the population comprised no/low, moderate and high associative stigma classes, respectively. Multinomial logistic regression showed that years of service and occupation were significantly associated with moderate associative stigma, while factors associated with high associative stigma were education, ethnicity and occupation. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that high associative stigma was significantly associated with lower job satisfaction scores.ConclusionAssociative stigma was not uncommon among mental health professionals and was associated with sociodemographic factors and poorer job satisfaction. Associative stigma has received comparatively little attention from empirical researchers and continued efforts to address this understudied yet important construct in conjunction with future efforts to dispel misconceptions related to mental illnesses are needed.

Project description:ObjectivesA considerable proportion of those who suffer from mental illnesses in Singapore do not seek any form of professional help. The reluctance to seek professional help could be due to misconceptions about the causes of mental illnesses. Research has shown that help-seeking attitudes can predict actual service use. As young adults are most at risk of developing mental illnesses, this study aims to elucidate the impact of causal beliefs about mental illness on help-seeking attitudes among university students in Singapore.DesignPrior to attending an anti-stigma intervention, data on the Causal Beliefs about Mental Illness, Inventory of Attitudes towards Seeking Mental Health services and questions pertaining to sociodemographic background were collected from participants using a self-administered questionnaire. Multiple linear regressions were performed to examine the relationship between causal beliefs and help-seeking, as well as their sociodemographic correlates.SettingsA university in Singapore.Participants390 students who were studying in a University in Singapore.ResultsYounger age was associated with higher scores on psychosocial attribution, while prior social contact with individuals with mental illness was significantly associated with lower scores on personality attribution. With regard to help-seeking attitudes; being a male and personality attribution were significantly associated with lower scores on 'Psychological Openness' and 'Indifference to Stigma', while psychosocial attribution was significantly associated with higher scores on 'Help-seeking Propensity'. Having prior social contact also predicted higher 'Psychological Openness', while being in Year 2 and 3 predicted lower scores on 'Indifference to Stigma'.ConclusionFindings from this study suggest that help-seeking attitudes might be influenced by causal beliefs, with personality attribution being the most impairing. Hence, to reduce the wide treatment gap in Singapore, anti-stigma interventions targeting young people could focus on addressing beliefs that attribute mental illness to the personality of the individual.

Dataset Information

Recognition of mental disorders: findings from a cross-sectional study among medical students in Singapore.

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Recognition of mental disorders: findings from a cross-sectional study among medical students in Singapore.

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