Assessing attitudes of fourth year medical students towards psychiatry and mental illness.

Background: Research revealed a high prevalence of negative attitudes towards psychiatry and mental illness among medical students prior to formal psychiatric education. Anti-stigma interventions at the medical student level have been postulated to reduce the risk of negative attitudes, which may drive stigmatization impacting recruitment into training posts and overall medical care.

Aim: To determine the prevalence of negative attitudes towards psychiatry and mental illness in a sample of fourth-year medical students prior to formal psychiatric teaching. To ascertain possible sociodemographic correlations with findings.

Setting: The University of the Witwatersrand.

Methods: A cross-sectional, quantitative, descriptive study was conducted using the Mental Illness: Clinicians' Attitudes Scale 2 questionnaire and a socio-demographic questionnaire.

Results: Of the total scores, 97.2% participants fell below the median potential score of 56, reflecting a low prevalence of stigmatising attitudes. The African cohort expressed less interest in psychiatry (P=0.0017), compared to other race cohorts (ranging from 92.1% to 100.0%).

Conclusion: This study revealed a low prevalence of negative and stigmatising attitudes towards psychiatry and mental illness. Of statistical significance, was a relative difference in attitudes towards psychiatry and mental illness in different race cohorts (P=0.0017); however, overall race cohorts showed a low prevalence of negative and stigmatising attitudes towards psychiatry.

Contribution: This study creates awareness of the impact factors on attitudes of medical students towards mental illness and specialization in psychiatry.