Attitudes of Resident Physicians Working in a University Hospital Towards Schizophrenia
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Date
2019
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Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the attitudes of resident physicians working in a university hospital (future specialists) towardsschizophrenia.Methods: The data of 170 resident physicians who completed the questionnaires in full were included in the research. Thedata collection procedure was completed in 6 months by two resident psychiatrists using the sealed envelope method for thequestionnaires (an 11-item socio-demographic and an 8-item professional information form and a 32-item attitude towardsschizophrenia survey that was prepared by the Psychiatric Research and Training Center). The effect of the sociodemographicand occupational variables on the responses to the questionnaire items was tested using logistic regression analysis.Results: The mean age of the participants was 28.07±2.40 (min=24-max=42) years. Approximately 98.8% (n=168) describedschizophrenia as a ‘disorder’ and 78.2% (n=133) as a ‘psychiatric disorder.’ Some 64.1% (n=109) of the participants statedthat schizophrenia was a congenital disease, 81.2% (n=138) said it was a curable disease, 85.9% (n=145) though that itcould be treated with medication, 60% (n=102) believed that the medications used for treating schizophrenia would causedependence, and 81.8% (n=139) stated that the medications used would involve serious adverse effects. Nearly 70.6% (n=120)of the participants stated that they could work with someone with schizophrenia and 45.9% (n=78) said that they could marrysomeone with schizophrenia. The presence of psychiatric diagnoses in a close friend (social acceptance of patients) was foundto be an influential variable.Conclusions: The resident physicians had high-level knowledge of schizophrenia as a psychiatric disorder, but their knowledgeon the effects and adverse effects of the medication was insufficient or incorrect. The sample’s social acceptance of patientswas generally good, despite putting social distance in situations requiring more personal intimacy. Based on these results, totreat schizophrenia more successfully, we need to either revise psychiatry curriculum in medical education or provide targetedskill training for non-psychiatric physicians in order to adopt more positive attitudes towards patients with schizophrenia andrefer them appropriately to psychiatrists when needed.