The Assessment of Attitudes of Students at Medical Schools towards Psychiatry and Psychiatric Patients—A Cross-Sectional Online Survey

Mateusz Babicki, Krzysztof Kowalski, Bogna Bogudzińska and Patryk Piotrowski
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Mateusz Babicki: Department of Family Medicine, Wroclaw Medical University, 51-141 Wroclaw, Poland
Krzysztof Kowalski: Students’ Scientific Group at the Faculty of Psychiatry, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-367 Wroclaw, Poland
Bogna Bogudzińska: Students’ Scientific Group at the Faculty of Psychiatry, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-367 Wroclaw, Poland
Patryk Piotrowski: Section of Epidemiology and Social Psychiatry, Department and Clinic of Psychiatry, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-367 Wroclaw, Poland

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 9, 1-12

Abstract: The aim of the study was the assessment of the level of stigmatisation of psychiatric patients and psychiatry as a field of study by students at medical schools in Poland and the comparison of students’ attitudes over the years. The study was conducted based on a proprietary questionnaire assessing the stage of tertiary education, sociodemographic status, and MICA-2 psychometric tool that is used for assessing both the attitudes of students at medical schools towards psychiatry as a field of study and patients with mental health disorders. According to the MICA score, those who have higher scores have more negative attitudes towards psychiatry. The survey consisted of two rounds at an interval of 3 years. Results. The first-round survey, conducted in 2017, involved 480 students. The second-round survey, conducted in 2020, involved 573 students. In both cases, women constituted the vast majority of respondents. Women, as well as medical major students, achieved significantly lower scores than men p < 0.001. The said relationship was also observed for individual experience with mental illness. There was no correlation between the MICA-2 total score and the psychiatry course completion— p = 0.105. However, the levels of stigmatisation are still high. The implementation of educational methods to improve the perception of psychiatric patients by students at medical schools should be taken into consideration. An increase in direct student–patient contact, for example, by means of intensive elective classes, could be beneficial.

Keywords: mental health; stigmatisation; MICA-2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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