Data_Sheet_1_Stigma Levels Toward Psychiatric Patients Among Medical Students—A Worldwide Online Survey Across 65 Countries.docx

Background: According to epidemiological data, over 450 million people worldwide suffer from mental disorders, presenting one of the major challenges of modern medicine. In their everyday lives, patients, in addition to fighting the disease itself, often struggle with stigmatization. This phenomenon negatively affects both the diagnostic and therapeutic processes, as well as the patients' everyday functioning. This study aimed to assess stigma attitudes toward psychiatry and psychiatric patients among undergraduate medical students.
Methods: This study used a Computer-Assisted Web Interview (CAWI), which included the standardized items from the Mental Illness: Clinicians' Attitudes (MICA-2) scale to evaluate stigma. The study was disseminated via the internet to students from medical universities from 65 countries worldwide. Participation was voluntary and anonymous. The study involved 1,216 students from these 65 countries. Most of the sample were women, and most were medical faculty students and students living in cities with more than 500,000 residents. Taking into consideration Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita and Human Development Index (HDI) variables, it can be seen that there was a prevalence of medical students from highly developed countries.
Results: For the whole sample, the mean MICA-2 score was 40.5 points. Women and medical and nursing students showed more positive attitudes toward psychiatric patients. Students from countries with the highest economic development levels also achieved statistically lower MICA-2 scores. Lower score means a more positive attitude.
Conclusion: Stigma toward both psychiatry and psychiatric patients is common among undergraduate medical students. Female students and respondents with a history of mental disorders in countries with high HDI and GDP per capita indices show more favorable attitudes than other medical students. There is a need to further our understanding of the problem of stigmatization, both among the general population and among medical personnel, and to implement and maintain appropriate measures to reduce stigma toward psychiatry.

背景：据流行病学数据显示，全球范围内超过4.5亿人群遭受精神障碍困扰，已然成为现代医学亟待应对的重大挑战之一。在日常生活中，精神障碍患者除与疾病本身抗争外，往往还饱受病耻感的困扰。这一现象会对诊疗流程以及患者的日常社会功能均造成负面影响。本研究旨在评估医学本科在校生对精神病学及精神疾病患者的病耻感态度。
方法：本研究采用计算机辅助网络访谈（Computer-Assisted Web Interview, CAWI）方式，使用标准化的《精神疾病：临床医生态度量表》（Mental Illness: Clinicians' Attitudes, MICA-2）的条目来评估病耻感。研究通过互联网向全球65个国家的医科大学学生分发调研问卷。本次调研采取自愿参与与匿名作答的原则，最终共纳入来自65个国家的1216名学生作为研究对象。样本主体为女性，且多数为医学院系学生，同时大多居住于人口规模超50万的城市。结合人均国内生产总值（Gross Domestic Product, GDP）与人类发展指数（Human Development Index, HDI）两项变量进行分析可见，样本中来自高收入发达国家的医学生占多数。
结果：整体样本的MICA-2平均得分为40.5分。女性医学生、医科与护理专业学生对精神疾病患者的态度更为积极。来自经济发展水平最高国家的学生，其MICA-2得分在统计学上显著更低——得分越低，代表对精神疾病患者的态度越积极。
结论：医学本科在校生普遍存在对精神病学及精神疾病患者的病耻感。在高HDI与高人均GDP国家中，女性医学生及曾罹患精神障碍的受访者，其对精神疾病的态度相较于其他医学生更为友好。未来亟需进一步深化对普通人群与医疗从业人员病耻感问题的认知，并制定并持续推行适宜的干预措施，以减轻针对精神病学领域的病耻感。