Attitudes towards psychiatry amongst medical and nursing students in Singapore

• Published in: BMC medical education 2019-03, Vol.19 (1), p.91-91, Article 91
• Main Authors: Samari, Ellaisha, Seow, Esmond, Chua, Boon Yiang, Ong, Hui Lin, Lau, Ying Wen, Mahendran, Rathi, Verma, Swapna Kamal, Xie, Huiting, Wang, Jia, Chong, Siow Ann, Subramaniam, Mythily
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Attitude of Health Personnel; Attitudes; Beliefs, opinions and attitudes; Career Choice; Cross-Sectional Studies; Curriculum; Education; Education, Medical, Undergraduate; Family Income; Female; Health Services; Humans; Job Satisfaction; Likert Scales; Male; Medical education; Medical research; Medical students; Mental disorders; Mental Health; Mental health care; Mentally ill persons; Negative Attitudes; Nurses; Nursing; Nursing education; Nursing Students; Online Surveys; Patients; Perception; Psychiatric patients; Psychiatric-mental health nursing; Psychiatrists; Psychiatry; Psychiatry - education; Public opinion; Sex Factors; Singapore; Specialization - statistics & numerical data; Stigma; Student attitudes; Students; Students, Medical - psychology; Students, Medical - statistics & numerical data; Studies; Study and teaching; Surveys and Questionnaires; University students; Web site management software; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1472-6920; 1472-6920
• DOI: 10.1186/s12909-019-1518-x

A shortage of specialists in psychiatry, both in terms of psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses is evident worldwide. While there are multiple factors leading to an individual's decision to specialize in psychiatry, the individual's perceptions and attitudes towards psychiatry tend to play an essential role. This study thus aimed to explore attitudes towards psychiatry amongst medical and nursing students in Singapore and examine factors associated with these attitudes. The present cross-sectional study used an online web survey tool to assess attitudes towards psychiatry amongst 502 medical and 500 nursing students in Singapore using the Attitudes towards Psychiatry (ATP-18) scale. Descriptive statistics and multiple linear regressions were used to examine associated factors (sociodemographic and education). The majority of students in this population endorsed favourable attitudes towards the following aspects of psychiatry: challenges within psychiatry, importance of psychiatry and psychiatric skills, treatment efficacy and view towards psychiatrists, but had generally unfavourable attitudes towards psychiatric patients. Male participants (compared to female; β = - 1.190, p