Title: Psychiatric Stigma among Medical Students and Nurses: Study From Rural Bihar, India
Author: Anant Kumar Verma, MD
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v5i5.189
Abstract
Stigmatic attitude toward psychiatric patients are universal rather than cultural phenomenon. However it has a large impact on help seeking behavior of patients and caregiving if it is significantly present in medical persons who are responsible for their care. This study was aimed to assess the attitude of medical students and nurses in tertiary care teaching medical college hospital in rural Bihar, India.
Methods: A survey was circulated among the medical students and the nurses of the Vardhman institute of Medical sciences, Pawapuri which is a relatively new tertiary care teaching medical institution situated in rural area of, Nalanda, Bihar, India. Of the 350 survey forms distributed, a response of 74.28% received within a period of two weeks.
Results: majority of the preclinical and clinical MBBS students as well as nurses held negative attitudes towards people with schizophrenia, depression, drug and alcohol disorders. However, most had favorable views of the recovery and treatability of the mental disorders.
Conclusions: stigmatizing attitude of medical students and nurses in Bihar India are comparable to the rest of the part of India and western countries.
Keywords: stigma, psychiatry, medical students, nurses, Bihar.
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