Assessment and characterization of the evolution of stigma towards mental illness along the Medicine degree in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto: a cross-sectional study.

Abstract

The current study aims to characterize the presence of stigma towards mental illness among 1st/2nd Year medical students at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto and newly graduated doctors at the same institution, using the Mental Illness: Clinicians' Attitudes Scale (medical student version) - MICA-2. MICA-2 total scores of both groups were compared using an independent samples t-test. MICA-2 individual items were compared with a Mann-Whitney U test. The effects of gender and of the existence of a family member or friend with a mental illness were also assessed. The results demonstrate a significant reduction in total scores for doctors (32.12±0.590) versus students (37.12±0.626) (p<0.001), showing improvement in stigmatizing attitudes. Female participants showed significantly lower total scores than male ones (33.67±0.524 vs 36.58±0.858, p=0.003). No difference was found between total scores of participants with vs without a mentally ill family member or friend (34.05±0.654 vs 35.53±0.707, p=0.509).