Risk factors of the stigma towards psychiatric patients among primary healthcare workers in China: a county study

Abstract

BackgroundAttitude towards psychiatric patients among healthcare workers has an impact on quality of medical care and rehabilitation of patients. In China, primary healthcare workers play an important role in mental health care, but little is known about the attitude of them towards psychiatric patients. This study aims to examine the risk factors associated with stigma among primary healthcare workers in West China.MethodsThis cross-sectional study randomly recruited 395 primary healthcare workers in Mianzhu County, China. Data were collected via self-reported questionnaires. Descriptive analyses, bivariate analyses, and hierarchical linear regressions were performed by SPSS 17.0 to test the factors that accounted for the variation of stigma towards psychiatric patients.ResultsSeveral risk factors were confirmed, including the satisfaction of income, work experience in psychiatric/ psychological departments, rehabilitation of patients, contact quality, and the attitude of mass media. However, demographic factors, the rest of work-related factors, and contact frequency might not be related with primary healthcare workers’ attitude towards psychiatric patients.ConclusionsThe findings suggested that the quality of contact between primary healthcare workers and psychiatric patients be enhanced in order to decrease the stigma of healthcare staff. On-the-job training and institutional medical education needs a further exploration and development.

Psychometric Properties of the Chinese Version of Short-Form Community Attitudes Toward Mentally Illness Scale in Medical Students and Primary Healthcare Workers

“…Our results illustrated primary healthcare workers had more negative attitudes than medical students towards mental illness. A range of researches has examined associated factors including sociodemographic characteristics and experience of mental illness (38,39). Therefore we supposed that the differences in education sustained, occupational experience, and the cultural identity between the medical students and the primary healthcare workers may contribute to it.…”

Factor structure of The Opening Minds Stigma Scale for Health Care Providers and psychometric properties of its Hungarian version

“…Stigma causes negative consequences in their quality of life in terms of interpersonal relationships and institutional opportunities [5]. Several studies have shown that mental health professionals could express stigmatising attitudes towards their patients with mental illness [6][7][8][9][10][11]; however, to a lesser extent as compared with the other members of the society [12,13]. Moreover, a significant reduction has been observed in the stigmatising attitude following antistigma interventions [14][15][16].…”

Attitudes towards People with Mental Illness among Professionals Working in a Psychiatric Hospital in Rwanda

“…Each dimension in the CAMI scale is measured by 10 statements of which an equal number are worded positively and negatively. A Likert-type scale measures attitudes on a scale of five points, from "strongly agree" (1) to "strongly disagree" (5).…”

“…This form of discrimination may have a negative impact on patients' self-esteem and the way they seek help or adhere to prescribed medical treatments. [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Consequently, negative attitudes that manifest as apprehension or discomfort during interactions with patients may lead to ineffective counseling or the lack of essential medical services.…”