Assessing attitudes of fourth year medical students towards psychiatry and mental illness.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Ochse, Stacey L. Lowton, Karishma
Copyright Year	2023
Abstract	BackgroundResearch revealed a high prevalence of negative attitudes towards psychiatry and mental illness among medical students prior to formal psychiatric education. Anti-stigma interventions at the medical student level have been postulated to reduce the risk of negative attitudes, which may drive stigmatization impacting recruitment into training posts and overall medical care.AimTo determine the prevalence of negative attitudes towards psychiatry and mental illness in a sample of fourth-year medical students prior to formal psychiatric teaching. To ascertain possible sociodemographic correlations with findings.SettingThe University of the Witwatersrand.MethodsA cross-sectional, quantitative, descriptive study was conducted using the Mental Illness: Clinicians’ Attitudes Scale 2 questionnaire and a socio-demographic questionnaire.ResultsOf the total scores, 97.2% participants fell below the median potential score of 56, reflecting a low prevalence of stigmatising attitudes. The African cohort expressed less interest in psychiatry (P=0.0017), compared to other race cohorts (ranging from 92.1% to 100.0%).ConclusionThis study revealed a low prevalence of negative and stigmatising attitudes towards psychiatry and mental illness. Of statistical significance, was a relative difference in attitudes towards psychiatry and mental illness in different race cohorts (P=0.0017); however, overall race cohorts showed a low prevalence of negative and stigmatising attitudes towards psychiatry.ContributionThis study creates awareness of the impact factors on attitudes of medical students towards mental illness and specialization in psychiatry.
Related Links	https://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=PMC10091164&blobtype=pdf
ISSN	16089685
Journal	The South African Journal of Psychiatry : SAJP : the Journal of the Society of Psychiatrists of South Africa [S Afr J Psychiatr]
Volume Number	29
DOI	10.4102/sajpsychiatry.v29i0.1994
PubMed Central reference number	PMC10091164
PubMed reference number	37064750
e-ISSN	20786786
Language	English
Publisher	AOSIS
Publisher Date	2023-03-31
Access Restriction	Open
Rights License	Licensee: AOSIS. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License. © 2023. The Authors
Subject Keyword	attitudes medical students psychiatry mental illness MICA-2 scale
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Psychiatry and Mental Health