Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
Department of Psychiatry, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
Int J Soc Psychiatry. 2022 Mar;68(2):316-323. doi: 10.1177/0020764020985545. Epub 2021 Jan 5.
Psychiatric disorders and antidepressant usage rates have increased over the years. However, prejudice, self, and public stigma continue to impede patients from receiving appropriate treatment, especially in traditional societies. In this study, the views of first and sixth-year medical students were examined. We aimed to show the potential effect of public information and 6 years of medical education on knowledge and awareness.
Our target population was first and sixth-year medical students at the Faculty of Medicine at Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey, during the semester 2018-2019. For measurement, widely used scales such as the Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory were administered. In addition, scales formed specifically by our research team: Sociodemographic information form and Depression and Antidepressant Awareness and Knowledge Scale were used.
Compared to first-year participants, sixth-year participants had significantly less stigmatizing views on individual statements. The overall stigma score of sixth-year participants was significantly lower ( < .05) than first-year participants. Linear Regression Analysis showed that the only predictor of overall stigma score was the depression score ( < .05, beta = -0.36), which acted as a negative predictor.
Sixth-year participants had higher rates of diagnosed psychiatric illness and psychiatric drug usage. Interestingly, the score was not a predictor of the overall stigma score. However, in the responses to individual statements, we observed an overall increase in knowledge and decreased stigma among the sixth-year participants compared to first-year participants. The effects of medical education on knowledge are significant overall. On the other hand, the level of knowledge and beliefs of our first-year participants, which are similar to the public, show a worrisome situation indicating that broader public education efforts are needed. Our study shows an encouraging perspective, indicating that public awareness campaigns can be very effective in increasing knowledge and decreasing misconceptions.
近年来，精神疾病和抗抑郁药的使用有所增加。然而，偏见、自我和公众污名仍然阻碍患者接受适当的治疗，尤其是在传统社会中。在这项研究中，我们检查了一年级和六年级医学生的观点。我们旨在展示公众信息和 6 年医学教育对知识和意识的潜在影响。
我们的目标人群是 2018-2019 学年安卡拉哈克泰佩大学医学院的一年级和六年级医学生。为了进行测量，我们使用了广泛使用的量表，如贝克抑郁量表、贝克焦虑量表。此外，我们还使用了由我们的研究团队专门组成的量表：社会人口统计学信息表和抑郁和抗抑郁药意识与知识量表。
与一年级参与者相比，六年级参与者对个人陈述的污名化观点明显较少。六年级参与者的总体污名评分明显低于一年级参与者（<0.05）。线性回归分析表明，总体污名评分的唯一预测因子是抑郁评分（<0.05，β=-0.36），这是一个负向预测因子。
六年级参与者的精神疾病诊断率和精神药物使用率较高。有趣的是，分数并不是总体污名评分的预测因子。然而，在对个别陈述的回应中，我们观察到六年级参与者的知识水平总体上有所提高，污名化程度有所降低，与一年级参与者相比。医学教育对知识的总体影响是显著的。另一方面，我们一年级参与者的知识水平和信念与公众相似，这表明需要进行更广泛的公众教育努力，这令人担忧。我们的研究表明了一个令人鼓舞的观点，即公众意识运动可以非常有效地提高知识水平，减少误解。
