Stigma and determinant factors among patients with mental disorders: Institution-based cross-sectional study

Asmamaw Getnet; Mezinew Sintayehu Bitew; Ashagrie Sharew Iyasu; Abebe Dilie Afenigus; Dessalegn Haile; Haile Amha

doi:10.1177/20503121221136400

Stigma and determinant factors among patients with mental disorders: Institution-based cross-sectional study

SAGE Open Med. 2022 Nov 24:10:20503121221136400. doi: 10.1177/20503121221136400. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Asmamaw Getnet¹, Mezinew Sintayehu Bitew¹, Ashagrie Sharew Iyasu², Abebe Dilie Afenigus¹, Dessalegn Haile¹, Haile Amha¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nursing, College of Health Sciences, Debre Markos University, Debre Markos, Ethiopia.
² Department of Statistics, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Debre Markos University, Debre Markos, Ethiopia.

Abstract

Objectives: To assess prevalence and its associated factors of perceived stigma among patients with mental disorders who had appointment for treatment at Debre Markos, Finote Selam, and Felege Hiwot Hospitals, Ethiopia, 2019.

Methods: At selected hospitals in the Amhara Region, an institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from 1 February to 1 March 2019. Participants were selected using systematic random sampling technique and data were collected using a standardized questionnaire. The Internalized Stigma Scale was designed to examine the stigma associated with mental disorders. The data were coded and enter into Epi data version 4.4.2.1 before being exported to SPSS version 20 for analysis. Odds ratios and 95% confidence interval were used to show the strength of the association.

Results: A total of 610 participants were participated, with a response rate of 98.6%, and 215 (35.2%) of them reported a high level of perceived stigma. Being single (adjusted odds ratio = 1.84, 95% confidence interval: 1.12, 3.02), accessing their medication freely (adjusted odds ratio = 1.70, 95% confidence interval: 1.08, 2.67), having suicidal thoughts (adjusted odds ratio = 1.95, 95% confidence interval: 1.25, 3.03), having low social support (adjusted odds ratio = 5.09, 95% confidence interval: 2.95, 8.76), age 25-34 years (adjusted odds ratio = 1.94, 95% confidence interval: 1.11, 3.40), age 35-44 years (adjusted odds ratio = 2.10, 95% confidence interval: 1.06-4.18), and age > 44 years (adjusted odds ratio = 3.48, 95% confidence interval: 1.67, 7.24) were revealed to be significantly associated with high perceived stigma after multivariable logistic regression analysis (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: The prevalence of high perceived stigma was 35.2%, which is found to be high among people who have mental disorders in this study. Being single, accessing their medication freely, having suicidal thoughts, having low social support, and being within the age of (25-34), (35-44), > 44 were all found to be significantly associated with high perceived stigma (p < 0.05). But married, access medication by fee, have no suicidal thought, having moderate and strong social support, and young age were significantly associated with low perceived stigma.

Keywords: Ethiopia; Mental disorder; perceived stigma.