Knowledge and attitude towards mental disorders among adults in an urban community in south-west Nigeria

Abstract

<jats:p>BackgroundMental disorders are one of the most ignored public health issues worldwide. However, the burden associated with mental disorders is ever increasing and poses a major threat to health, social interactions and the economy of both developed and developing countries.Aim To assess the knowledge of adults residing in an urban local government area in Lagos, south-west Nigeria, with regards to mental health and investigate their attitudes towards this condition.Methods This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. Multi-stage sampling was used to select 242 adults who were subsequently interviewed with a structured questionnaire. Data was collected and analysed using Epi Info statistical software version 7. Associations between socio-demographic variables and the knowledge and attitudes of subjects with regards to mental disorders were assessed using chi-square tests at a significance level of 0.05. ResultsAlmost all respondents (95.5%) in this study were aware of mental disorders while 31.0% were related to someone with a mental disorder. Approximately half of the respondents (51.2%) had poor knowledge of mental disorders while the majority (90.0%) had positive attitudes. There was a significant and positive association between having a relative with a mental disorder and the level of knowledge (P=0.010).ConclusionAnalyses identified knowledge gaps in the community in terms of mental disorders in the community. We recommend that health workers should develop ways to educate the community with regards to the causes, symptoms, effects and treatment options for mental disorders.</jats:p>

Knowledge, attitude, and associated factors towards mental illness among residents of Dessie town, northeast, Ethiopia, a cross-sectional study

“…This study showed that about 55.3% of participants had poor knowledge and 45.1% had unfavorable attitudes towards mental illness. Regarding the level of poor knowledge, our result is in agreement with findings reported from Ethiopia 59.2% [13] and Nigeria 51.2% [11]. However, the prevalence in the current study is lower than the study conducted in Qatar 72.5% [8], Tanzania 85.9% [10], Kinondoni community 61% [3], Saudi public 87.5% [9], and Moroccan 76% [12].…”

“…The result is in line with a study conducted in Jimma, Ethiopia 46.9% [33]. But it is higher than the study done in Nigeria, the majority (90.0%) had positive attitudes toward mental illness [11]. The finding in the current study was lower than the result reported from Qatar which showed that the prevalence of unfavorable attitude was 53.5% [8], Tanzania 58.9% [10], Kinondoni 79.6% [3], and Saudi public 54.5% [9].…”

“…However, studies suggest that some mental disorders are even common in low income than in developed, it is estimated by the year 2000 there would be 24.4 million schizophrenia in less developed countries [6,7]. The prevalence of poor knowledge is significantly very high in deferent countries, in Qatar 72.5% [8], in Saudi public 87.5% [9], in Tanzania 85.9% [10], in Kinondoni 61% [3], in Nigeria 51.2% [11], in Moroccan 76% [12], and in Ethiopia 59.2% [13]. Whereas unfavorable attitude, in Tanzania 58.9% [10], in Kinondoni 79.6% [3], Saudi public 54.5% [9] and Nigeria 10.0% [11].…”

“…The prevalence of poor knowledge is significantly very high in deferent countries, in Qatar 72.5% [8], in Saudi public 87.5% [9], in Tanzania 85.9% [10], in Kinondoni 61% [3], in Nigeria 51.2% [11], in Moroccan 76% [12], and in Ethiopia 59.2% [13]. Whereas unfavorable attitude, in Tanzania 58.9% [10], in Kinondoni 79.6% [3], Saudi public 54.5% [9] and Nigeria 10.0% [11].…”

“…Previous studies reported that there are several identified factors associated with poor knowledge and unfavorable attitude, have low educational attainment, unemployment, age, sex, poor levels of social support, low income, absence of relative with a mental disorder, unemployed history of mental illness who do not have better information access to mental illness [3,8,9,11,13,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. About 14% of the global burden of disease have been attributed to mental and related disease, mostly chronically disabling illness, depression and other common mental disorders like psychosis [26].…”