Attitude Towards Suicide and Help-Seeking Behavior Among Medical Undergraduates in a Malaysian University (original) (raw)
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Attitude towards suicide among medical students in a medical college of rural south India
Asian Pacific Journal of Health Sciences, 2019
Background: Suicide is a psychiatric emergency. It contributes for substantial portion of preventive deaths. Medical professionals bear responsibility of providing optimal primary care to a suicidal person and reducing stigma towards suicide. Their attitudes towards suicide or a suicidal person determines the quality of care given to them. This study attempts to quantitatively assess attitudes of undergraduate medical students towards suicide and a suicidal person. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a medical college hospital of Kerala. Total 287 first& second year medical students who were not exposed to psychiatry teaching were recruited for the study by total enumeration method. Eskin's attitude towards suicide scale (E-ATSS) and Eskin's Social Reactions to Suicidal Persons Scale (E-SRSPS) were administered. Responses were collected in 5 point likert scale ranging from 'completely disagree' to 'completely agree'. Results: On E-ATSS, Communicating psychological problems had a high mean score with minimal standard deviation(4.25+/-0.35) & acceptability of suicide scored the least(1.46+/-0.62) while the social acceptance of a suicidal person & helping had high scores (4.34+/-0.82, 4.28+/-0.23) on E-ATSPS. Conclusion: Students participated in this study have more of rejecting attitudes towards suicide. But less than half of them take it as a sign of mental illness. When it comes to attitude towards a suicidal person, our medical students have a very high acceptance score and also are ready to help them. Studies involving students who complete undergraduate psychiatry training will help to know about the change that the training brings into the attitudes.
Attitudes of doctors and medical students toward patients with suicidal ideation
Revista Bioética, 2020
Considering suicide is a public health problem, this study identified misconceptions about patients at risk of suicide as well as strategies to manage patients and their families, also verifying changes in conceptions and attitudes throughout graduation. We applied a questionnaire with five categories: “medical confidentiality,” “deontology,” “medical negligence,” “graduation,” and “myths and conceptions”. One hundred and twenty-six subjects participated in the research: 45 (35.7%) first-year medical students, 48 (38.1%) interns, and 33 (26.2%) doctors. The variables were analyzed, and the difference between groups was significant for 15 questions (62.5%). In one question (myths and conceptions) the answers were distant from the expected, and in two questions (myths and conceptions, deontology) the result did not give adequate information. We observed improvements at medical graduation for most of the studied aspects; among the deficiencies, we highlight those related to compulsory ...
A Comparative Study of Attitude of Mental Health Versus Nonmental Professionals toward Suicide
Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 2012
Suicide is emerging as an important cause of mortality. [1] The alarming figures given by World Health Organization and various other surveys [2] make it imperative to examine its various aspects. Suicide is the 11 th leading cause of death in adults, 4 th leading cause in children, 3 rd important cause in young people aged 15-24 years, and it accounts for 30 000 deaths per year. [3,4] Individuals who survive an act of suicide run a risk of reattempt, and that too of high lethality. [5]
Kerala Journal of Psychiatry, 2020
Background: Teachers in the field of psychiatry has the responsibility to impart changes in students' attitude towards important areas of the subject. Suicide is the psychiatric emergency that a primary care practitioner is most likely to encounter in day to day practice. In this cross-sectional study, we looked into the change in the attitude of an undergraduate student towards suicide with his/her training in psychiatry with the present undergraduate curriculum. Materials and Methods: We recruited undergraduate medical students doing their MBBS course from a medical college of South India. Their responses to Eskin's Attitudes towards Suicide Scale (E-ATSS) and Eskin's Social Reactions to Suicidal Persons Scale (E-SRSPS) were collected. The students were divided into groups of students completed undergraduate training in Psychiatry and those who are yet to get exposed to it. Responses in E-ATSS and E-SRSPS from both groups were compared. Results: The overall attitude of students towards suicide and suicidal person were favourable compared to many previous studies. There was a significant difference in the factor ' suicide as a sign of mental illness' when responses from both groups were compared. 2.72±1.11 in the exposed group compared to 3.16±1.11 of unexposed group. p-value<0.001). Also, there was a significant difference in responses to the disapproval of suicidal disclosure. 2.83±0.65 in the exposed group and 2.67±0.67 in the unexposed group. (pvalue-0.01). Conclusion: The current undergraduate medical curriculum by Medical Council of India is successful in bringing attitude change in some important domains of the subject of suicide. Domains remain under-covered by the curriculum should be looked into in the future curriculum revisions.
Suicidality: College Students’ Attitudes and Behaviours in Malaysia
International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies, 2022
The World Health Organization (WHO) identifies suicidality, the experience of suicidal thoughts or behaviour including attempts, as an ongoing global public health concern. The WHO estimated that more than 79% of suicides in 2016 occurred in low to middle income nations, with 60% of these occurring in Asia. Suicides are often underreported and misclassified as death by other causes. As a result, obtaining accurate information is difficult. This problem is exacerbated in developing countries facing limited budgets, legislative barriers, and social stigma. These realities place greater responsibility on researchers to collect and interpret data. This study addressed this issue in a sample of 176 college students in Malaysia. The Suicide Behaviours Questionnaire-Revised (SBQ-R), which examines individual attitudes and behaviour concerning suicide, was administered and demographic information was collected on gender, age, ethnicity, and religion. Data were analysed using Statistical Pac...
Inquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financing, 2017
Understanding attitudes toward suicide, especially among healthcare personnel, is an important step in both suicide prevention and treatment. We document the adaptation process and establish the validity and reliability of the Attitudes Toward Suicide (ATTS) questionnaire among 262 healthcare personnel in 2 major public hospitals in the Klang Valley, Malaysia. The findings indicate that healthcare personnel in Malaysia have unique constructs on suicide attitude, compared with the original study on a Western European sample. The adapted Malay ATTS questionnaire demonstrates adequate reliability and validity for use among healthcare personnel in Malaysia.
A study of attitude towards suicide prevention among non-mental health care providers
IP Innovative Publication Pvt. Ltd, 2017
Introduction: Increase in suicide rate is a major concern. Most suicide attempters approach health professionals for treatment. A negative attitude of these professionals toward these patients can be a major barrier for management. This study aims at assessing the attitude of non-mental health care providers towards suicide prevention. Materials and Method: One hundred and seventy five health care providers were approached to participate in this study during awareness creation symposium for suicide prevention, which was held on World Suicide Prevention Day. An attitude toward suicide prevention scale was administered to the participants and comparison of various variables was done with non mental health care providers those who have not attended awareness programme. Results: Mean age of participants was 29.24 (±8.62). The majority of them were doctors and Post graduate medical students including interns, 50.3% and 32% respectively. More than half (60%) of them had a positive attitude toward working with suicidal patients. Nearly 70% of the participants did not consider unemployment and poverty as the main causes of suicide, and were positively inclined towards suicide prevention measures. At the same time, nearly half of them were of the view that in the majority of the cases suicidal persons will not reveal their suicide plans to others. Conclusions: More than half of the non mental health care providers had a positive attitude toward working with suicidal patients. There is thus a need to create awareness on suicide prevention and to integrate health professionals across all areas in efforts at suicide prevention.
A comparative study of mental health versus nonmental professionals towards suicide.
Background: Suicide is a major public health problem. Suicide can be prevented by understanding the disorder. Attitude plays a significant role in doing so. Aim: To assess the attitudes of mental health professionals and non-mental health professionals towards an act of suicide and to compare the two groups regarding their attitudes. Materials and Methods: A semistructured questionnaire having yes/no type questions was administered to 30 mental health and 30 nonmental health professionals. A blind analysis of the data was done. Statistical Analysis: Comparative analysis using mean and standard deviation and analysis of variance was performed to rate significance in differences of responses to questions that rate attitudes. Results: The results show a significant positive attitude of mental health professionals toward dealing with the patients who attempted suicide. Discussion: Considering the magnitude of the problem, simple training and education of nonmental health professionals can change their attitude toward patients who attempt suicide, which in turn leads to an optimal management. Conclusion: The study shows that the mental health professionals are much more positive in their approach towards a patient of parasuicide.