scholarly journals Improved attitudes of interns versus undergraduate medical students towards patients with mental illness in Saudi Arabia

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 361-372
Author(s):  
Abdulrahman A. Al-Atram

Background: The attitudes of medical students towards mental illness are important since these students will be providing care to this group in the future. Aims: To assess the beliefs and attitudes of undergraduate medical students regarding mental illness and to compare students at different levels. Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate medical students in the College of Medicine, Majmaah University, Saudi Arabia, during the 2018–2019 academic years. Male students were included from Years 3–5 (25 from each year) and 25 male interns using the proportionate stratified random sampling method. The participants responded to the Beliefs about Mental Illness (BMI) Scale and the Attitudes towards Mental Illness Questionnaire (AMIQ) Results: Bonferroni post hoc tests were used to conduct between-group comparisons of the year 3 group, who were at the beginning of their psychiatric training, with the other groups with more training. This revealed significant differences in scores for 11 of 21 items on the BMI Scale (P < 0.05). All questions regarding the 4 vignettes of the AMIQ (substance abuse, depression, psychosis, and obsessive compulsive disorders) showed a significant difference between students in year 3 and those in the other groups who had more psychiatric training (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The current medical psychiatric training positively improved the beliefs and attitudes of medical students towards patients with mental illnesses.

Author(s):  
Aditi Agrawal ◽  
Sanjay Gehlot ◽  
Ashok Singhal ◽  
Amandeep .

Background: People with mental illnesses experience extreme stigmatization and discrimination despite their ubiquitous presentation. Studies have reported that these negative stereotypes are shared by health care professionals too. Attitude of undergraduate medical students towards psychiatry is vital as it reflects their willingness to deal with psychiatric and behavioral disorders in general practice.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in a government medical college in Rajasthan to explore the impact of sociodemographic variables and undergraduate psychiatry training on the attitude of medical students towards mental illness and psychiatry. 105 first year MBBS students and 75 interns participated in the study. Attitude towards mental illness (AMI) scale and attitude towards psychiatry-30 (ATP-30) scale were used to document AMI and ATP respectively. Data collected were analyzed using SPSS statistical software and appropriate tests were used to compare mean scores of both groups.Results: There was no statistically significant difference on AMI and ATP scores between the undergraduate medical students and interns. Females, students belonging to urban setting and more educated families had a favorable attitude towards psychiatric patients. A notable shift in scores on ATP scale towards positive side was reflected between male MBBS students and interns and among students coming from rural background with exposure to medical curriculum.Conclusions: No attitude change was observed in majority of participants indicating need for greater emphasis on mental health and psychiatry. 


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. e253-259
Author(s):  
Saeed Alshahrani ◽  
Ahmad Alswaidan ◽  
Ala Alkharaan ◽  
Abdulrahman Alfawzan ◽  
Aysha Alshahrani ◽  
...  

Objectives: This study aimed to explore Saudi Arabian medical students’ perceptions of patient safety. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in the College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in September 2019. The Attitudes to Patient Safety Questionnaire (APSQ III) was used to explore undergraduate medical students’ attitudes towards and knowledge of PS. The main outcomes measured were the APSQ III’s nine domains. Data were analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences and students’ attitudes were communicated as mean scores ± standard deviations. Results: A total of 301 participants were included in this study (response rate: 85.75%). Six domains reflected a positive attitude while three domains showed a neutral attitude. The domain of ‘team functioning’ had the highest mean score (5.8) followed by ‘working hours as a cause of error’ (5.6) and ‘error inevitability’ (5.4). There was a significant difference between gender in the domain ‘patient involvement in reducing error’ (P = 0.012) and ‘importance of patient safety (PS) in the curriculum’ (P = 0.001). In addition, the ‘importance of PS in the curriculum’ domain was significantly different across different age groups (P = 0.039). Conclusion: Medical students were highly interested in PS and recommended implementing a comprehensive undergraduate PS programme to fulfil their educational needs. Keywords: Undergraduate Medical Education; Patient Safety; Medical Errors; Attitude; Medical Students; Medical Ethics; Patient Care; Saudi Arabia.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdulrahman Alfawzan ◽  
Omar Alfawzan ◽  
Reema Alessa ◽  
Abdulaziz Alturki ◽  
Kholoud Alshiha ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Learning style refers to how students prefer to receive, process and recall information. Research in academia suggests that different teaching strategies could have an impact on learning style. The study aims to identify the learning style of medical students in three different universities in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Method: This cross-sectional study examined the learning preferences among medical students in basic science years in three universities in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. By using consecutive sampling, we collected 316 responses. The questionnaire consisted of sociodemographic data and Index of Learning Style (ILS) instrument. Descriptive data were analyzed using chi-square by SPSS. Results Of the 316 participants, the male to female ratio was 1:1. Gender was associated with significant difference in the visual/verbal dimension (P = 0.034). Irrespective of college, most of the participants are primarily balanced in active/reflective (mean = 0.7), with slight shift toward sensing (mean =-3.2), visual (mean =-3.2), and sequential (-1.7). Significant differences between colleges were found in sensing/intuitive (P = 0.005) and sequential/global (P = 0.012) dimensions. There was no significant association between academic years with learning style in the three universities. Conclusion The study showed that age and GPA had no association with students’ learning styles, while gender was significantly correlated with the visual/verbal dimension. Most of the participants can learn alone, and/or in groups, and prefer visual illustrations supported by hands-on teaching in a stepwise process. It has also been shown that students in a single university tend to develop the same learning styles as they advance through the years.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Nour Shashaa ◽  
Mohamad Shadi Alkarrash ◽  
Mohammad Nour Kitaz ◽  
Roaa Rhayim ◽  
Mohammed Ismail ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Sudden cardiac arrest considers one of the most leading cause for death in all over the world. It is important for all medical students to train basic life support. This study evaluated the awareness of basic life support among medical students. Methods An electronic questionnaire based cross sectional study was conducted in November 2020 among 2114 medical student in Syria, Iraq and Jordan. We evaluated BLS skills according to mean score. A chi-squared test was used to determine if there were differences between those who attended a basic life support course and those who did not. Results 1656 of the participants (78.3%) stated that they did not attend a basic life support course. There was a significant difference between the participants from different countries where the mean score in Syria, Jordan and Iraq was 18.3, 24.3 and 18.8 respectively (p < 0.05). The participants were divided into 3 level according to total score; low (0–12), moderate (13–24) and high (25–37). In total, 18.3%, 72.8% and 8.9% of participants had high, intermediate and low level respectively. Conclusions The overall knowledge of basic life support among medical students is not adequate and need significant improvements. This study showed that an attendance a basic life support course previously had an effect on knowledge level. Hence, there is an urgent need to apply basic life support courses into the pre-clinical stage at universities.


2015 ◽  
Vol 06 (04) ◽  
pp. 001-002
Author(s):  
Vijayalakshmi Poreddi ◽  
Rohini Thimmaiah ◽  
Suresh Bada Math

ABSTRACT Background: Globally, people with mental illness frequently encounter stigma, prejudice, and discrimination by public and health care professionals. Research related to medical students’f attitudes toward people with mental illness is limited from India. Aim: The aim was to assess and compare the attitudes toward people with mental illness among medical students’. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study design was carried out among medical students, who were exposed (n = 115) and not exposed (n = 61) to psychiatry training using self-reporting questionnaire. Results: Our findings showed improvement in students’ attitudes after exposure to psychiatry in benevolent (t = 2.510, P < 0.013) and stigmatization (t = 2.656, P < 0.009) domains. Further, gender, residence, and contact with mental illness were the factors that found to be influencing students’ attitudes toward mental illness. Conclusion: The findings of the present study suggest that psychiatric education proved to be effective in changing the attitudes of medical students toward mental illness to a certain extent. However, there is an urgent need to review the current curriculum to prepare undergraduate medical students to provide holistic care to the people with mental health problems.


Author(s):  
Shaikh Arshiya Kaiser Husain ◽  
Anwaya R. Magare ◽  
Purushottam A. Giri ◽  
Vijaykumar S. Jadhav

Background: The aim of medical education is to produce competent, physically and mentally strong health professionals, as they are going to be the pillars of the future health care system. Stress is one of the most common and process-oriented obstacles in medical education. It often exerts a negative effect on the academic performance, physical health, and psychological well-being of the students. Dealing with overloaded medical curriculum, competing with peers, being away from home and meeting high expectations imposed by parents and society to excel is among the common stressful transitions at this stage.Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out amongst 352 undergraduate medical students of a private medical college in a rural area of Maharashtra during April to October 2019. The structured questionnaire was used to record the data. Collected data was used to assess the severity of mental health issues among medical students.Results: Majority 194 (55.11%) students were in the age of 18 to 20 years followed by 141 (40.06%) were in 21 to 23 years. There were 196 (55.68%) girl students and 156 (44.32%) boys. According to the various categories, 80 (22.73%) of the students had low stress scores, followed by 76 (21.59%) in minimal. A highly significant difference in stress scores was seen between boys and girls, which was more in boys.Conclusions: Study concluded that undergraduate medical students perceive minimal to very high stress presented as various systems that vary with the year of study and gender wise too. There is a further need to look into the various causes of stress.


2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (03) ◽  
pp. 349-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vijayalakshmi Poreddi ◽  
Rohini Thimmaiah ◽  
Suresh Bada Math

ABSTRACT Background: Globally, people with mental illness frequently encounter stigma, prejudice, and discrimination by public and health care professionals. Research related to medical students′ attitudes toward people with mental illness is limited from India. Aim: The aim was to assess and compare the attitudes toward people with mental illness among medical students′. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study design was carried out among medical students, who were exposed (n = 115) and not exposed (n = 61) to psychiatry training using self-reporting questionnaire. Results: Our findings showed improvement in students′ attitudes after exposure to psychiatry in benevolent (t = 2.510, P < 0.013) and stigmatization (t = 2.656, P < 0.009) domains. Further, gender, residence, and contact with mental illness were the factors that found to be influencing students′ attitudes toward mental illness. Conclusion: The findings of the present study suggest that psychiatric education proved to be effective in changing the attitudes of medical students toward mental illness to a certain extent. However, there is an urgent need to review the current curriculum to prepare undergraduate medical students to provide holistic care to the people with mental health problems.


BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. e022201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Seng Esmond Seow ◽  
Boon Yiang Chua ◽  
Rathi Mahendran ◽  
Swapna Verma ◽  
Hui Lin Ong ◽  
...  

ObjectivesGiven the low recruitment to psychiatry worldwide, the current study aimed to examine how premedical and intramedical school factors, perception of career aspects, attitudes towards psychiatry, stigma towards mental illness and personality traits may affect the likelihood of psychiatry as a career choice.DesignCross-sectional online study.Participants502 medical students from two public medical institutions in Singapore.MethodsWe critically examined existing literature for factors identified to influence psychiatry as a career choice and explored their effects in a group of medical students in Singapore. To avoid overloading the regression model, this analysis only included variables shown to have significant association (p<0.05) with the outcome variable from the initial Χ2test and independent t-test analyses.ResultsA considerable number of non-medical school factors such as preschool influence and interest, personality traits and importance of a high status specialty in medicine were found to affect students’ choice of psychiatry as a career. Among medical school factors, attending a psychiatry/mental health club was the only influential factor. Negative attitudes towards psychiatry, but not stigma towards people with mental illness, significantly predicted the likelihood of not choosing psychiatry as a career.ConclusionsImproving educational environment or teaching practice in psychiatric training may aid in future recruitment for psychiatrists. While the changing of premedical school influences or personality factors may be infeasible, medical schools and psychiatry institutes could play a more critical role by enhancing enrichment activities or clerkship experience to bring about a more positive attitudinal change towards psychiatry among students who did consider a career in psychiatry.


Author(s):  
Alaa Mahsoon ◽  
Loujain Sharif ◽  
Maram Banakhar ◽  
Nofaa Alasmee ◽  
Esraa Almowallad ◽  
...  

Mental illness is not uncommon among young adults, but negative attitudes towards mental disorders and lack of parental support might be associated with hesitancy in seeking professional help. This study aimed to examine the relationships of parental support, beliefs about mental illness, and mental help-seeking among young adults in Saudi Arabia. This quantitative cross-sectional study included a convenience sample of 236 young adults (ages 18–25) with the majority of the total (86.4%) being female. Data were collected via three self-administered questionnaires: The Perceived Parental Support Scale, Beliefs toward Mental Illness scale, and Mental Help Seeking Attitude Scale. Results indicated that the participants had a moderately negative attitude toward mental illness, a moderately positive attitude toward parental support, and a highly positive attitude toward mental help-seeking. No significant relationships were found among the study variables. The study highlights that despite young adults’ positive attitude toward mental help-seeking and parental support, they have negative views toward people with mental illnesses. Educational programs in schools and media are needed to improve attitudes and enhance readiness to interact with people with mental illness.


Author(s):  
Nusrat Bano ◽  
Muhammad Anwar Khan ◽  
Uzma Asif ◽  
Jennifer de Beer ◽  
Hawazen Rawass ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective: To assess the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress in medical students, and to analyse effects of demographics and nomophobia on depression, anxiety and stress. Method: The descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at the College of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from April 1 to May 23, 2019, and comprised male and female medical students aged 19-25 years. Data was collected using a demographic information form, the 21-item depression, anxiety and stress scale and the 20-item nomophobia questionnaire. Data was analysed using SPSS 20. Results: Of the 230 students, 108(47%) were boys and 122 (53%) were girls. The overall mean age was 21.93+1.80 years. Anxiety, depression and stress was reported in 168 (74.6%), 158 (70.2%) and 127 (55.9%) of the students. Extremely severe anxiety, depression and stress were self-reported by 92 (40.9%), 38 (16.8%) and 16 (7.04%) students. There was a significant difference in the distribution of subjects within different levels of anxiety across gender (p<0.05).  Higher anxiety and stress scores were observed in 78 (33.9%) students with severe nomophobia. Differences in the levels of anxiety and stress with regards to type of residence and nomophobia levels were significant (p<0.05). Conclusion: There was high prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress associated with gender, nomophobia levels and residence type. Key Words: Depression, Anxiety, Stress, Medical, Nomophobia.


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