Abaatyo Joan, Nyemara Novatus, Ashaba Scholastic
Department of Psychiatry, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda.
Department of Psychiatry, King Ceasor University, Kampala, Uganda.
PLoS One. 2024 Dec 2;19(12):e0313153. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0313153. eCollection 2024.
Health professionals in primary care settings show stigmatizing attitudes towards people with mental illness (PMI), leading to undermined quality of care delivered. However, information is sparse on stigmatizing attitudes of health professionals towards PMI in Uganda. This study aimed to discover the levels of stigmatizing attitudes towards PMI and associated factors among health professionals in Uganda.
We enrolled 254 health professionals at Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital in a cross-sectional study. Community attitude towards mental illness-2 (CAMI-2) scale was used to assess stigmatizing for attitudes. Linear regression was used to determine factors associated with level of stigmatizing attitudes.
The average overall CAMI score for all participants was 91.1±16.6. Nurses/midwives compared to doctors had significantly higher total CAMI score (p<0.001), and higher malevolent (p = 0.01) and non-acceptance attitudes (p = 0.02) than doctors. Doctors had significantly lower authoritarian attitudes than clinical officers, (p = 0.004). Being male (aCoef: -4.86; p = 0.02), increase in compassion satisfaction (aCoef: -0.44; p = 0.02), and increased mental health knowledge (aCoef: -2.90; p = <0.001), increased likelihood of having lower levels of stigmatizing attitudes, while being a non-psychiatric health professional was associated with higher levels of stigmatizing attitudes (aCoef: 12.08; p = 0.01).
Health professionals exhibit moderate levels of stigmatizing attitudes towards PMI and stigmatizing attitudes are more among nurses/midwives. Various steps including providing education and training on mental illness, promoting community integration and social inclusion, and advocating for policies, should be taken to reduce stigmatizing attitudes of health professionals towards PMI.
基层医疗环境中的卫生专业人员对患有精神疾病的人（PMI）表现出污名化态度，导致所提供的护理质量受到损害。然而，关于乌干达卫生专业人员对PMI的污名化态度的信息却很少。本研究旨在发现乌干达卫生专业人员对PMI的污名化态度水平及相关因素。
我们在一项横断面研究中纳入了姆巴拉拉地区转诊医院的254名卫生专业人员。使用社区对精神疾病的态度-2（CAMI-2）量表来评估污名化态度。采用线性回归来确定与污名化态度水平相关的因素。
所有参与者的平均CAMI总分为91.1±16.6。与医生相比，护士/助产士的CAMI总分显著更高（p<0.001），且恶意（p = 0.01）和不接受态度（p = 0.02）比医生更高。医生的专制态度明显低于临床干事（p = 0.004）。男性（调整系数：-4.86；p = 0.02）、同情满意度增加（调整系数：-0.44；p = 0.02）以及心理健康知识增加（调整系数：-2.90；p = <0.0），污名化态度水平较低的可能性增加，而作为非精神科卫生专业人员与较高水平 的污名化态度相关（调整系数：12.08；p = 0.01）。
卫生专业人员对PMI表现出中等程度的污名化态度，且护士/助产士中的污名化态度更为严重。应采取各种措施，包括提供关于精神疾病的教育和培训、促进社区融合和社会包容以及倡导相关政策，以减少卫生专业人员对PMI的污名化态度。
