URBAN-RURAL COMPARISONS OF ATTITUDE TOWARDS MENTAL ILLNESS AMONGST HEALTHCARE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS.

Gul, Arbaz; Aliyan, Muhammad; Abro, Mahrukh; Sami, Abdul; Feroz, Tariq

OBJECTIVE: To examine and compare the differences in attitudes of healthcare university students towards mental illness from urban and rural backgrounds. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: The study was conducted at Liaquat University of Medical & Health Sciences Jamshoro, Sindh from October to December 2023. METHOD: Sampling population were undergraduate students registered in different undergraduate healthcare programs (MBBS, BDS, DPT, Pharmacy, Nursing, Biomedical Engineering, BS MLT, BSRT, BS Forensic Chemistry/Biology and other allied departments), aged 18-27 years, of either gender, gave their consent of participation were included in the study. Data were collected with the help of an online questionnaire. Mental Illness Clinician Attitude Scale (MICA-2 and 4) were employed to assess the healthcare student's attitude towards mental illness. RESULTS: Out of 396 participants, there was female preponderance (n=213) and mean age of subjects was 21.38 years ± SD 1.689. The majority of students lived in urban areas (n=231) vs. Rural areas (n=165). A significant number of participants (n=149) were enrolled in MBBS, while the rest (n=247) were distributed among other departments, including BDS, nursing and pharmacy, etc. A substantial number of students were in final academic year (n=130). The Median MICA score was 52. There was a significant difference between scores of rural and urban students and a statistically significant difference was noted among students from different departments and academic years. CONCLUSION: Overall attitude of healthcare university undergraduate students towards mental health illness is unsatisfactory. Whereas, the students from rural areas had poor attitude towards mental illness compared with those from the urban areas.

COLLEGE student attitudes; RURAL poor; STUDENT attitudes; MENTAL health of students; MEDICAL students; ATTITUDES toward illness; INTERPROFESSIONAL education

Journal of Pakistan Psychiatric Society, 2024, Vol 21, Issue 4, p22

1726-8710

Academic Journal

10.63050/jpps.21.04.355