Assessing public awareness, knowledge, and attitudes towards mental health disorders and their prevention in Nigeria
1 Public Health Department, School of Public Health, University of Suffolk, England, United Kingdom.
2 Laboratory Service Directorate, Institute of Human Virology, Abuja, Nigeria.
3 Emergency Medicine Department, Mid Cheshire Hospitals, NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom.
Research Article
World Journal of Biology Pharmacy and Health Sciences, 2024, 20(03), 375-384.
Article DOI: 10.30574/wjbphs.2024.20.3.1011
Publication history:
Received on 31 October 2024; revised on 10 December 2021; accepted on 12 December 2024
Abstract:
This study assessed public awareness, knowledge, and attitudes towards mental health disorders and their prevention in Nigeria, using Uyo Local Government Area (LGA), Akwa Ibom State as a case study. A self-administered anonymous cross-sectional community survey was conducted between September and October 2024 using a modified Mental Health Knowledge Schedule (MAKS). The sample comprised 418 respondents who were purposively selected from six selected wards. Descriptive data were summarised using frequency tables and histograms and were tested for association with binary logistic regression at 95% CI. Participants were, on average, 35.6 years old (standard deviation ±12.5), and 55.0% were females. Of the respondents, 93.8% acknowledged psychiatric disorders as medical illnesses, 28.7 per cent described the disorders as infectious, and 35.9% viewed isolation as a treatment. The most mentioned factors were brain damage (p=0.007), anxiety (p=<0001), family breakdowns (p<0001), spirits (p=<0001) and gods (p=<0001). Though the difference was massive, there was a slight variation among the four educational statuses or their mental health knowledge; secondary education or above had 2.5 times more knowledge in mental health than the rest while 1.8 times more knowledgeable than the rural dwellers. These included low mental health literacy, high stigmatisation, herbal medicine use and perceived help-seeking, recognized and fundamental socioeconomic inequalities and weak healthcare systems. In order to overcome these challenges, the study underscores the importance of community involvement, which should be a key part of the blueprint to enhance mental health literacy.
Keywords:
Mental health literacy; Stigma; Akwa Ibom State; Community knowledge; Mental health interventions
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Copyright © 2024 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0