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Stigma and attitudes toward mental illness among medical students: a cross-sectional study

Background: Mental disorders are a significant burden worldwide. Medical students as future physicians need to have appropriate knowledge and positive attitudes toward mentally ill patients. The objectives of the current study are to determine knowledge and attitude toward mental illness in medical students and compare the knowledge and attitude between medical students who completed a psychiatry course and those who did not.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among medical students at Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. The study sample was divided into two groups: The first group included medical students who did not complete the psychiatry course. The second group included medical students who completed the psychiatry course. The data was collected using a previously well-structured online questionnaire distributed to the students.
Results: The study included 367 medical students (66.8% Males). The mean age was 21.94. Participants were mainly from the third and fifth years of medical school (32.2%, 21.8%). Out of all participants, (63.5%) did not complete the psychiatry course. The majority did not take their psychiatry hospital placement (85.6%). Most participants had good knowledge (63.2%) and positive perception and attitudes (61.9%, 76.3%). Academic year difference positively affected knowledge about mental illness causes (p=0.022) and attitudes (p=0.010). Psychiatry hospital placement positively affected the perception of mental illness (p=0.020).
Conclusion: Overall, the students appeared to have good knowledge, positive attitudes, and a positive perception of mental illnesses. In addition, the percentage of stigmatizing thoughts was minimal.