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Internalized Stigma in Persons With Mental Illness in Qatar: A Cross-Sectional Study

Stigma impacts persons with mental illness (PWMI), their families and network of friends, the public and health care professionals. Stigma is a major barrier for PWMI to seeking treatment, which contributes to the burden of disease, disability, and mortality. Research on stigma is relatively scant i...

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Autores principales: Kehyayan, Vahe, Mahfoud, Ziyad, Ghuloum, Suhaila, Marji, Tamara, Al-Amin, Hassen
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8232048/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34178932
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.685003
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author Kehyayan, Vahe
Mahfoud, Ziyad
Ghuloum, Suhaila
Marji, Tamara
Al-Amin, Hassen
author_facet Kehyayan, Vahe
Mahfoud, Ziyad
Ghuloum, Suhaila
Marji, Tamara
Al-Amin, Hassen
author_sort Kehyayan, Vahe
collection PubMed
description Stigma impacts persons with mental illness (PWMI), their families and network of friends, the public and health care professionals. Stigma is a major barrier for PWMI to seeking treatment, which contributes to the burden of disease, disability, and mortality. Research on stigma is relatively scant in the Middle East region and particularly in Qatar. To address stigma effectively in each culture, it is essential to study its nature in the context where the PWMI experience stigma. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of internalized stigma in PWMI in Qatar. A cross-sectional study of PWMI receiving outpatient mental health services in Qatar was done. We interviewed 417 PWMI using a modified 18-item version of the short form of the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) Scale. Descriptive and regression models were used to analyze the data. The Cronbach alpha for the modified 18-items ISMI was 0.87. Participants' average score on this scale was 2.07 ± 0.38 with 41 (9.8%) of them scoring more than 2.5 which is considered “high” stigma score. In multivariate logistic regression, high stigma (modified ISMI score >2.5) was significantly higher among PWMI with no formal education and among those who reported lower levels of social support. The reported levels of internalized stigma in this vulnerable population of Qatar fall at the lower spectrum reported worldwide. An anti-stigma education program designed for the context of Qatar emphasizing on education and support for PWMI may be conducive to creating an all-inclusive society.
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spelling pubmed-82320482021-06-26 Internalized Stigma in Persons With Mental Illness in Qatar: A Cross-Sectional Study Kehyayan, Vahe Mahfoud, Ziyad Ghuloum, Suhaila Marji, Tamara Al-Amin, Hassen Front Public Health Public Health Stigma impacts persons with mental illness (PWMI), their families and network of friends, the public and health care professionals. Stigma is a major barrier for PWMI to seeking treatment, which contributes to the burden of disease, disability, and mortality. Research on stigma is relatively scant in the Middle East region and particularly in Qatar. To address stigma effectively in each culture, it is essential to study its nature in the context where the PWMI experience stigma. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of internalized stigma in PWMI in Qatar. A cross-sectional study of PWMI receiving outpatient mental health services in Qatar was done. We interviewed 417 PWMI using a modified 18-item version of the short form of the Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) Scale. Descriptive and regression models were used to analyze the data. The Cronbach alpha for the modified 18-items ISMI was 0.87. Participants' average score on this scale was 2.07 ± 0.38 with 41 (9.8%) of them scoring more than 2.5 which is considered “high” stigma score. In multivariate logistic regression, high stigma (modified ISMI score >2.5) was significantly higher among PWMI with no formal education and among those who reported lower levels of social support. The reported levels of internalized stigma in this vulnerable population of Qatar fall at the lower spectrum reported worldwide. An anti-stigma education program designed for the context of Qatar emphasizing on education and support for PWMI may be conducive to creating an all-inclusive society. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-06-07 /pmc/articles/PMC8232048/ /pubmed/34178932 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.685003 Text en Copyright © 2021 Kehyayan, Mahfoud, Ghuloum, Marji and Al-Amin. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Public Health
Kehyayan, Vahe
Mahfoud, Ziyad
Ghuloum, Suhaila
Marji, Tamara
Al-Amin, Hassen
Internalized Stigma in Persons With Mental Illness in Qatar: A Cross-Sectional Study
title Internalized Stigma in Persons With Mental Illness in Qatar: A Cross-Sectional Study
title_full Internalized Stigma in Persons With Mental Illness in Qatar: A Cross-Sectional Study
title_fullStr Internalized Stigma in Persons With Mental Illness in Qatar: A Cross-Sectional Study
title_full_unstemmed Internalized Stigma in Persons With Mental Illness in Qatar: A Cross-Sectional Study
title_short Internalized Stigma in Persons With Mental Illness in Qatar: A Cross-Sectional Study
title_sort internalized stigma in persons with mental illness in qatar: a cross-sectional study
topic Public Health
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8232048/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34178932
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.685003
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