Abstract
Aim of the studyTreatment nonadherence in patients with mental illnesses recurs and exacerbates the complications of the disease and disrupts the treatment process. Experienced stigma may aggravate treatment nonadherence while spiritual well-being may improve stigma and treatment adherence. This study aimed to determine the relationship of stigma with treatment adherence and spiritual well-being in patients with mental illnesses in Iran in 2019.Subject or material and methodsThis cross-sectional correlational study was performed on patients with mental illnesses who referred to Farshchian Psychiatry Hospital of Hamadan, from December 2018 to March 2019. A total of 250 available patients were selected and asked to complete demographic, stigma, treatment adherence, and spiritual well-being questionnaires under the supervision of a researcher. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and path analysis in SPSS22 and AMOS23.ResultsMean stigma, treatment adherence, and spiritual well-being scores were calculated as 2.2±0.5, 139.89±27.52, and 83.12±19.5, respectively. The results showed a significant negative correlation between stigma and treatment adherence (r=-0.54, P<0.001). In addition, there was a significant direct relationship between treatment adherence and spiritual well-being (r=0.44, P<0.001) and a significant negative relationship between stigma and spiritual well-being (r=-0.48, P<0.001)DiscussionThe results showed a relationship between stigma and treatment adherence, stigma and spiritual well-being, and spiritual well-being and treatment adherence.ConclusionsThen can be suggested that treatment teams can improve treatment adherence by undertaking several interventions to reduce stigma and promote spiritual well-being to prevent the adverse individual and social effects of treatment nonadherence
Highlights
Mental illnesses have significant impacts on people’s quality of life (QoL) [1]
The results showed a relationship between stigma and treatment adherence, stigma and spiritual well-being, and spiritual well-being and treatment adherence
The results showed that internalized stigma levels were high in patients with schizophrenia and that internalized stigma had a negative effect on treatment adherence and attitude toward treatment [12]
Summary
Mental illnesses have significant impacts on people’s quality of life (QoL) [1]. It has been reported that these health problems influence about 22.1% of the conflict-affected population assessed at any point in time [2]. The highest level of stigma is attributed to patients with mental illnesses among other diseases [4]. Stigma refers to the public’s beliefs, attitudes, and negative thoughts about mental illness [3, 5]. Nine out of ten people with mental health problems believe that stigma and discrimination have negative effects on their QoL [6]. In a study by West et al (2011), conducted on 144 patients with mental illnesses to assess stigma levels, 36% of patients experienced stigma [7]. Treatment nonadherence in patients with mental illnesses recurs and exacerbates the complications of the disease and disrupts the treatment process. This study aimed to determine the relationship of stigma with treatment adherence and spiritual well-being in patients with mental illnesses in Iran in 2019
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