Torres Inês N, Pereira Helena P, Moreira Maria Beatriz P, Marina Sílvia, Ricou Miguel
Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Center for Health Technology and Services Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Front Psychiatry. 2024 Aug 1;15:1425301. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1425301. eCollection 2024.
Stigmatising attitudes among healthcare professionals can hinder access to healthcare, making it important to address this issue. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of stigma related to mental illness among Portuguese healthcare professionals and to compare the results among mental health professionals, General Practitioners (GPs) and other health professionals.
An online cross-sectional observational study was conducted in Portugal using Google Forms® to collect data. The data collection process lasted five months, from September 2023 to January 2024. Participants were recruited from various professional associations and Health Centre Groups, through a purposive sampling. The study used the Portuguese version of the Opening Minds Stigma Scale for Healthcare Providers (OMS-HC) to measure stigma which assesses three dimensions: attitudes towards disclosure and help-seeking, attitudes towards people with mental illness, and attitudes towards social distance.
A total of 292 healthcare professionals participated in the study. In Portugal, healthcare professionals displayed low to moderate levels of stigma towards mental illness (M = 22.17, SD = 5.41). Mental health professionals demonstrated significantly lower levels of stigma (M=20.37, SD=5.37) compared to other healthcare professionals (M=24.15, SD=4.71), including GPs (M=23.97, SD=5.03). Additionally, having a close friend or relative with mental illness seemed to be related with lower levels of stigma for the dimension attitudes towards social distance (M=6.93, SD=2.50), compared to not having one (M=7.60, SD=2.56). On the other hand, a personal history of mental illness indicated higher levels of stigma for the dimension disclosure and help-seeking (M=8.95, SD=3.07), compared to having no history of mental illness (M=8.16, SD=2.67).
This study indicates that Portuguese healthcare professionals have stigmatising attitudes towards mental illness, although at low to moderate levels. Training and frequent interaction with people with mental illness seem to be associated with lower levels of stigma. Personal experience of mental illness seems to follow the opposite path regarding disclosure and seeking help. Thus, further research is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of anti-stigma measures and deepen the study of the concept of self-stigma in healthcare professionals.
医疗保健专业人员中的污名化态度可能会阻碍获得医疗服务，因此解决这一问题很重要。本研究旨在调查葡萄牙医疗保健专业人员中与精神疾病相关的污名化流行情况，并比较精神卫生专业人员、全科医生（GP）和其他卫生专业人员的结果。
在葡萄牙进行了一项在线横断面观察性研究，使用谷歌表单®收集数据。数据收集过程持续了五个月，从2023年9月到2024年1月。通过目的抽样从各种专业协会和健康中心团体中招募参与者。该研究使用葡萄牙语版的《医疗保健提供者开放心态污名量表》（OMS-HC）来测量污名，该量表评估三个维度：对披露和寻求帮助的态度、对精神疾病患者的态度以及对社会距离的态度。
共有292名医疗保健专业人员参与了该研究。在葡萄牙，医疗保健专业人员对精神疾病表现出低到中等程度的污名（M = 22.17，SD = 5.41）。与其他医疗保健专业人员（M = 24.15，SD = 4.71），包括全科医生（M = 23.97，SD = 5.03）相比，精神卫生专业人员的污名程度明显较低（M = 20.37，SD = 5.37）。此外，与没有亲密朋友或亲戚患有精神疾病的人相比，有亲密朋友或亲戚患有精神疾病的人在对社会距离维度的污名程度上似乎较低（M = 6.93，SD = 2.50），而没有的人该维度污名程度为（M = 7.60，SD = 2.56）。另一方面，与没有精神疾病病史的人相比，有精神疾病个人史的人在披露和寻求帮助维度的污名程度更高（M = 8.95，SD = 3.07），而没有精神疾病病史的人该维度污名程度为（M = 8.16，SD = 2.67）。
本研究表明，葡萄牙医疗保健专业人员对精神疾病存在污名化态度，尽管程度较低到中等。与精神疾病患者的培训和频繁互动似乎与较低的污名程度相关。精神疾病的个人经历在披露和寻求帮助方面似乎呈现相反的情况。因此，有必要进一步研究评估反污名措施的有效性，并深化对医疗保健专业人员自我污名概念的研究。
