European Study on the Attitude of Psychiatrists Towards Their Patients

Mental Illness Clinical Trial

— Eustigma  

Official title:

European Study on the Attitude of Psychiatrists Towards Their Patients

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT04644978
• Other study ID #: Eustigma - v. 1.0
• Status: Completed
• Start date: July 29, 2020
• Est. completion date: July 31, 2022

Study information

• Verified date: October 2022
• Source: Semmelweis University
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

Background: Many people think that people with mental disorders might be dangerous or unpredictable. These patients face various sources of disadvantages and experience discrimination on job interviews, in education, and housing. Mental health-related stigma (MHS) occurs not only within the public community, it is a growing issue among professionals as well.

Aim: The investigators designed a prospective, observational, multi-centre, international study of 35 European countries to investigate the MHS among medical specialists and trainees in the field of general adult and child and adolescent psychiatry.

Methods: An internet-based, anonymous survey will measure the stigmatizing attitude by using the local version of the Opening Minds Stigma Scale for Health Care Providers.

Presentation of the Results: The results of the research will be published in an international peer-reviewed journal. Furthermore, the research team will present the results at national and international conferences.

Description:

There is a rising interest in the examination of the MHS that has been mostly studied among community people. Numerous international studies have shown that people with mental illness are considered to be unpredictable and dangerous. These people often experience disadvantages in various situations, like job interviews, education, and housing.

The MHS has been much less examined among medical professionals and psychiatrists; however, studies have shown that it is prevalent among them as well.

A recent multi-centre study collected the positive and negative experiences of 777 people with schizophrenia regarding access to healthcare services in 27 countries. More than 17% of the patients experienced some kind of discrimination due to their mental illness when they sought medical care for physical problems. More than 38% felt that the medical staff was disrespectful during psychiatric services. Higher discrimination was found within the former Eastern Bloc countries.

Generally, psychiatrists tend to be more empathetic towards people with mental illnesses; however, the MHS could be observed among them as well. A few studies have also shown that their attitude is more negative than that of community people.

Based on the ambiguous results and the lack of studies focusing on the stigmatizing attitude of psychiatrists, the research team aimed to examine this important issue among medical professionals in the mental health field.

Aim of the study:

Our aim is to investigate the stigmatizing attitudes and behaviours of adult psychiatric and child and adolescent psychiatric professionals and trainees towards people with mental illness in European countries.

The results of our study will contribute to the expansion of the existing knowledge both on national and international levels. The outcome could be used for the development of anti-stigma programs and the improvement of therapeutic options in the future.

Structure of the research:

Our study is cross-sectional and multi-centred across 35 European countries. The research team would like to measure the extent of the stigmatizing attitude and its relationship with psychosocial factors.

• Sociodemographic measures:

• sociodemographic data: age, sex

• professional data: workplace categories (university, psychiatric hospital, outpatient service, research centre); location of the workplace (capital, county seat, rural town, small town, village); years of professional experience; current psychotherapeutic activity

• personal information (related to a stigmatizing attitude): mental illness is known in his/her family or close friend, previous treatment for own mental illness, attending psychotherapy

• National version of the Opening Minds Stigma Scale for Health Care Providers (OMS-HC)

An online questionnaire will be provided for the participants of our study. Participation in the study is voluntary, and it can be terminated at any time without having to give any reasons.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 4245
• Est. completion date: July 31, 2022
• Est. primary completion date: July 31, 2021
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 24 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• The responder must be a practising specialist or trainee in psychiatry or child and adolescent psychiatry in one of the participating countries on the basis of his / her own declaration.

• Responders could provide their consent by choosing "I agree" on the website, after reading the information leaflet and the informed consent form. Only those participants will be able to complete the online survey who chose "I agree" on the website.

Exclusion Criteria:

• The choice of "I do not agree" option of the participant on the website after reading the informed consent form. The responder will be guided automatically to the end of the survey.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Mental Disorders
• Mental Illness
• Stigmatization

Intervention

Other:
• anonymous online survey
An online questionnaire will be provided for the participants of our study. Participation in the study is voluntary and it can be terminated at any time without having to give any reasons.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Albania	Xhavit Gjata Hospital	Tirana
Austria	Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapeutic Medicin, Medical University of Graz	Graz
Azerbaijan	City Hospital N15	Baku
Belarus	Psychiatric Clinic of Minsk City	Minsk
Bulgaria	Military Medical Academy, Department of Psychiatry	Sofia
Croatia	University Hospital Centre Zagreb	Zagreb
Cyprus	Private Practice	Nicosia
Czechia	3rd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University	Prague
Denmark	Research Unit for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychiatry- Aalborg University Hospital	Aalborg
Estonia	University of Tartu	Tartu
France	EPSM Étienne Gourmelen	Quimper
Germany	Klinikum rechts der Isar der Technischen Universität München	Munich
Greece	Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina	Ioánnina
Hungary	Semmelweis University	Budapest
Ireland	Department of Liasion Psychiatry, Mater University Hospital	Dublin
Italy	University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro	Catanzaro
Latvia	Hospital Gintermuiza	Jelgava
Lithuania	Vilnius University, Facutly of Medicine, Psychiatric Clinic	Vilnius
Malta	Mount Carmel Hospital	Attard
Montenegro	Clinical Centre of Montenegro, Clinic for Psychiatry	Podgorica
Netherlands	Erasmus University	Rotterdam
Portugal	Institute of Psychological Medicine, Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra	Coimbra
Russian Federation	The Serbsky State Scientific Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry	Moscow
Serbia	Institute for Mental Health	Belgrade
Slovakia	Psychiatric Hospital Michalovce	Michalovce
Slovenia	Centre for Clinical Psychiatry, University Psychiatric Clinic and Children's hospital Ljubljana	Ljubljana
Spain	Fidmag Foundation	Barcelona
Switzerland	Psychiatrische Klinik Clienia Littenheid	Littenheid
Turkey	Ankara City Hospital Bilkent	Ankara
Ukraine	Chernivtsi Regional Mental Hospital, Bukovinian State Medical University	Chernivtsi
United Kingdom	Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust	Oldham

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Semmelweis University

Countries where clinical trial is conducted

Albania,  Austria,  Azerbaijan,  Belarus,  Bulgaria,  Croatia,  Cyprus,  Czechia,  Denmark,  Estonia,  France,  Germany,  Greece,  Hungary,  Ireland,  Italy,  Latvia,  Lithuania,  Malta,  Montenegro,  Netherlands,  Portugal,  Russian Federation,  Serbia,  Slovakia,  Slovenia,  Spain,  Switzerland,  Turkey,  Ukraine,  United Kingdom, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	stigmatising attitude	The main questionnaire is the Opening Minds Stigma Scale for Health Care Providers (OMS-HC) which is a self-report questionnaire that contains 15 statements describing feelings and opinions about people with mental health problems. . In the survey, the subjects indicate on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = "strongly disagree" to 5 = "strongly agree") the extent they identify themselves with the given statement.; The overall stigmatising attitude of the participants is described with the total score of the scale (minimum of 15, and a maximum of 75 points). Besides the total score, three dimensions can be calculated by evaluating the three subscales of the questionnaire (Attitude, Disclosure and Help-seeking, and Social Distance).; Higher scores on a subscale and higher total scores reflect a more stigmatising attitude.	Baseline