Attitude of Non-Mental Health Professionals Towards Mental Illness in a Tertiary Care Center

BACKGROUND Mental and behavioral disorders are major health problems. Stigma can prevent the care and treatment of the mentally ill. There is a gross underestimation of psychiatric comorbidities among patients by non-mental health professionals. A positive attitude of these health professionals has a crucial role in the treatment of patients suffering from psychiatric illness. The primary objective of the study is to study the attitude of various nonmental health professionals towards mental illness. METHODS It is a crosssectional descriptive study, conducted in a private medical college in Mangalore, Karnataka in India. The study had 76 participants consisting of doctors and nurses. Instruments used were a semi-structured demographic proforma and Mental illness: Clinicians Attitude Scale - Version 4 (MICA-4). MICA-4 is a 16- item scale used for assessing attitude towards mental illness. RESULTS The total number of subjects included was 76 among which doctors constituted 57 and nurses 19. As the experience and age of the participants increased, a shift to the positive attitude towards psychiatric illness was noted. Specialist doctors had a higher positive attitude compared to non-specialist medical graduates and nurses. CONCLUSIONS It is essential to have structured training in psychiatry for all health care professionals.