Health Professionals’ Stigma towards the Psychiatric Ill in Nigeria

Abstract

Attitudes to all the four constructs of the CAMI-2 were non-stigmatizing. Stigmatizing attitudes were significantly higher among pharmacists, doctors and then nurses (p<0.006). Health professionals who did not have contact with the mentally ill (p<0.0001), who were males (p=0.008) and had lower years of working experience (p=0.031) expressed significantly higher stigmatizing attitudes towards the mentally ill. Conclusions: Nigerian health professionals were largely non-stigmatizing towards the mentally ill. However, being a pharmacist, of male gender, and working in a non-psychiatric hospital were associated with stigmatizing attitudes when they exist.