Risk factors and impact of stigma on psychiatric patients in Sohag

Taher Abdelraheem Sayed,Saber Hadad,Magda Mohamed Ali

doi:10.1186/s41983-021-00403-3

Taher Abdelraheem Sayed, Saber Hadad + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s41983-021-00403-3

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Abstract

BackgroundStigma among psychiatric patients is pervasive all over the world. Our aim in this study was to investigate risk factors for stigma related to psychiatric disorders and to demonstrate the major consequences of mental stigma for patients who experience mental illness. We conducted a cross-sectional study and applied a stigma scale to 573 patients with psychiatric disorders who attended our outpatient psychiatry clinic. Participants were divided into two groups, group I (no.262) with low stigma score and group II (no.311) with high stigma score. The two groups were compared in term of socio-demographic characteristics (age, gender, level of education, residency, marital status, employment and socioeconomic level), factors related to the psychiatric disorder (duration of illness, number of psychiatric hospital admission and diagnosis) and impact of psychiatric illness (follow-up visits, adherence to medications and suicidal thoughts or attempts).ResultsThe mean age of patients with high stigma score (group II) was 29 ± 6 years. High stigma score was more common in females (53.7%), illiterate (11.9%), living in rural areas (58.2%), single (22.83%), unemployed (44.37%) and low socioeconomic class (59.49%). Patients with a high stigma score showed longer duration of psychiatric disorder (43 ± 8 months), more frequent number of psychiatric hospital admission (4.3 ± 0.5) and schizophrenia ((11.25%) and other psychotic disorders (6.49%) were common diagnoses. Patients with a high stigma score show poor adherence to medication (47.91%) and follow-up (44.05%) and a high frequency of suicidal ideation or attempt (47.91%). Significant risk factors predicting high mental stigma were level of education (explaining about 23% of the risk, P = 0.03), duration of mental illness (explaining about 25% of the risk, P = 0.019), number of hospital admissions (explaining about 22.7% of the risk, P = 0.032), diagnosis of mental illness (explaining about 27.7% of the risk, P = 0.01).ConclusionMental stigma is more prevalent among young aged individuals, females, single, unemployed, living in rural areas and those with lower educational and socioeconomic level. Mental stigma has a parallel correlation with psychiatric disorder duration, number of psychiatric hospital admissions, as well as diagnosis of psychotic disorder. The stigma of mental illness from the viewpoint of the patient may lead to delaying the access to care as well as poor adherence to medications and follow-up. Anti-stigma measures can contribute to diminishing the psychiatric illness effect.

Highlights

Stigma among psychiatric patients is pervasive all over the world
As shown in Table 2; Patients with high stigma score had significantly longer duration of illness measured in months (43 ± 8 vs 37 ± 9), more frequent psychiatric hospital admissions (4.3 ± 0.5 vs 2.1 ± 0.3) and had diagnosis of schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders
Our results revealed that patients living in rural areas (58.2%) reported higher mental stigma scores than patients living in urban areas (34.73%) which was evidenced by Townley et al [27] who found that mental health stigma perceptions were more elevated in non-urban regions which can be attributed to several reasons such as fear of categorizing mentally ill patients into a small and closed community, low awareness levels, low education levels, lower socioeconomic status, cultural practices and beliefs, as well as the absence or inadequacy of mental health services

Summary

Introduction

Our aim in this study was to investigate risk factors for stigma related to psychiatric disorders and to demonstrate the major consequences of mental stigma for patients who experience mental illness. Sayed et al Egypt J Neurol Psychiatry Neurosurg (2021) 57:148 the second challenge is the prejudice and discrimination from society due to misbeliefs about psychiatric illness. Due to these challenges, patients typically have difficulty finding a suitable job, good housing or adequate health care [2]. Many psychiatric patients report that they experience stigma and related prejudice due to their illness as much as they experience stigma and prejudice against the symptoms of the disorder itself [3]. Stigma and prejudice have significant negative psychological, political, economic as well as social consequences for individuals with mental illnesses [5]

Results

Discussion

Conclusion