School of Health Systems and Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria.
S Afr Fam Pract (2004). 2024 Jan 23;66(1):e1-e9. doi: 10.4102/safp.v66i1.5808.
Non-specialist health professionals are required to provide mental health services given the burden of disease due to mental illness. The study aimed to explore the attitudes of clinical associates towards those with mental illness as well as their interest in mental health work and additional mental health training.
A cross-sectional study design was utilised. The study population consisted of clinical associates based in South Africa. An electronic questionnaire was developed that incorporated the 16-item Mental Illness Clinicians' Attitudes version 4 scale (MICA-4), which is scored out of 96 with higher scores indicating more stigmatising attitudes. Multivariate linear regression was used to determine factors associated with the MICA-4 score.
The mean MICA-4 score for the 166 participants who completed all 16 questions was 37.55 (standard deviation 7.33). In multivariate analysis, the factors associated with significantly lower MICA-4 scores were falling in the 25- to 29-year-old age category and indicating that a mental health rotation formed part of the undergraduate degree. More than 80% of the participants (140/167, 83.8%) indicated an interest in mental health work. Two-thirds of the participants (111/167, 66.5%) indicated an interest in a specialisation in mental health.
The mean MICA-4 score recorded for clinical associates indicates low stigma levels towards those with mental illness. Additionally, there is significant interest in working and training in mental health.Contribution: Training programmes should take note of the contribution of a mental health rotation to a positive attitude to mental health patients. Clinical associates' attitudes towards mental illness together with their interest in working and training in mental health suggest that they could be more widely utilised in mental health service provision.
由于精神疾病导致的疾病负担，非专业卫生专业人员需要提供精神卫生服务。本研究旨在探讨临床助理对精神疾病患者的态度，以及他们对精神卫生工作和额外精神卫生培训的兴趣。
采用横断面研究设计。研究人群包括南非的临床助理。开发了一个电子问卷，其中包含 16 项精神疾病临床医生态度量表第 4 版（MICA-4），该量表的评分范围为 96 分，得分越高表示态度越具有污名化。采用多变量线性回归来确定与 MICA-4 评分相关的因素。
完成所有 16 个问题的 166 名参与者的平均 MICA-4 得分为 37.55（标准差 7.33）。在多变量分析中，与 MICA-4 得分显著降低相关的因素包括年龄在 25 至 29 岁之间，以及表明心理健康轮训是本科学位的一部分。超过 80%的参与者（140/167，83.8%）表示对精神卫生工作感兴趣。三分之二的参与者（111/167，66.5%）表示对精神卫生专业感兴趣。
记录的临床助理的平均 MICA-4 得分表明对精神疾病患者的污名程度较低。此外，对精神卫生工作和培训有很大的兴趣。贡献：培训计划应注意心理健康轮训对积极对待精神卫生患者的贡献。临床助理对精神疾病的态度以及他们对精神卫生工作和培训的兴趣表明，他们可以更广泛地用于提供精神卫生服务。
