Alqassim Ahmad, Makeen Anwar, Ahmed Anas, Alqarny Abdulilah, Alrabaee Awidah, Aboalqasim Almothana, Ageel Abdulmageed, Alnami Anas, Hassani Mousa, Hakami Mohammed, Mahfouz Mohamed, Alharbi Abdullah
Family and Community Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan city, Jazan, Saudi Arabia.
J Family Med Prim Care. 2022 Aug;11(8):4568-4575. doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_2023_21. Epub 2022 Aug 30.
Mental illness is a serious condition requiring early intervention. This study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude, practice, and stigma toward mental illness among university students in Saudi Arabia.
An observational cross-sectional survey was conducted during the academic year 2018-2019 in a university in Saudi Arabia. Stratified random sampling was adopted to select students ( = 778). A standardized self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data.
The students had an adequate level of knowledge on mental illness (44.1%), and almost half of them had a positive attitude (52.2%) toward mental illness. The female students (55.9%) exhibited a significantly higher positive attitude than the males (48.4%) ( = 0.038). The students' knowledge level increased significantly with an increase in the academic year ( = 0.010). The students from urban places showed a significantly higher knowledge level (50.5%) than those from the rural areas (40.5%) ( = 0.007). The students from health-related colleges (59.7%) showed higher positive attitudes, but without statistical significance ( = 0.104) than those from other colleges. The female gender (Odds ratio (OR) = 1.41, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.06-1.88, = 0.020) was an important factor associated with positive attitudes. The important independent predictors of adequate mental illness knowledge were living in urban places (OR = 1.47, 95% CI, 1.09-1.98, = 0.012) and studying in the sixth year (OR = 2.1, 95% CI, 1.1-3.9, = 0.028).
Although students showed a favorable attitude toward mental illness, their knowledge level can be improved. Research outcomes can be used to design health educational interventions to enhance university students' mental health literacy.
精神疾病是一种需要早期干预的严重疾病。本研究旨在评估沙特阿拉伯大学生对精神疾病的知识、态度、行为及污名化情况。
在2018 - 2019学年于沙特阿拉伯的一所大学开展了一项观察性横断面调查。采用分层随机抽样选取学生（n = 778）。使用标准化的自填式问卷收集数据。
学生对精神疾病有一定水平的了解（44.1%），并且几乎一半的学生对精神疾病持积极态度（52.2%）。女生（55.9%）表现出的积极态度显著高于男生（48.4%）（P = 0.038）。随着学年增加，学生的知识水平显著提高（P = 0.010）。来自城市地区的学生知识水平（50.5%）显著高于农村地区的学生（40.5%）（P = 0.007）。来自健康相关专业学院的学生（59.7%）表现出更高的积极态度，但与其他学院的学生相比无统计学意义（P = 0.104）。女性（优势比（OR）= 1.41，95%置信区间[CI]，1.06 - 1.88，P = 0.020）是与积极态度相关的重要因素。对精神疾病有足够了解的重要独立预测因素是居住在城市地区（OR = 1.47，95% CI，1.09 - 1.98，P = 0.012）和在六年级学习（OR = 2.1，95% CI，1.1 - 3.9，P = 0.028）。
尽管学生对精神疾病表现出积极态度，但他们的知识水平仍可提高。研究结果可用于设计健康教育干预措施，以提高大学生的心理健康素养。
