Stigmatizing attitudes of primary care professionals towards people with mental disorders: a systematic review
Open accessAbstract
Objective: To examine stigmatizing attitudes towards people with mental disorders among primary care professionals and to identify potential factors related to stigmatizing attitudes through a systematic review. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted in Medline, Lilacs, IBECS, Index Psicologia, CUMED, MedCarib, Sec. Est. Saúde SP, WHOLIS, Hanseníase, LIS-Localizador de Informação em Saúde, PAHO, CVSO-Regional, and Latindex, through the Virtual Health Library portal ( http://www.bireme.br website) through to June 2017. The articles included in the review were summarized through a narrative synthesis. Results: After applying eligibility criteria, 11 articles, out of 19.109 references identified, were included in the review. Primary care physicians do present stigmatizing attitudes towards patients with mental disorders and show more negative attitudes towards patients with schizophrenia than towards those with depression. Older and more experience doctors have more stigmatizing attitudes towards people with mental illness compared with younger and less-experienced doctors. Health-care providers who endorse more stigmatizing attitudes towards mental illness were likely to be more pessimistic about the patient’s adherence to treatment. Conclusions: Stigmatizing attitudes towards people with mental disorders are common among physicians in primary care settings, particularly among older and more experienced doctors. Stigmatizing attitudes can act as an important barrier for patients to receive the treatment they need. The primary care physicians feel they need better preparation, training, and information to deal with and to treat mental illness, such as a user friendly and pragmatic classification system that addresses the high prevalence of mental disorders in primary care and community settings.
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The presence of these bacteria has been linked to depression in their human hosts.
“Intriguingly, the presence of these bacteria has been linked to depression in their human hosts. 307”
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- Authors
- Vistorte, A. O. R., Ribeiro, W. S., Jaen, D., Jorge, M. R., Evans-Lacko, S., & Mari, J. D. J.
- Affiliations
- Universidade Federal de São Paulo (BR)
- Department of Psychiatry, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
- King's College London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Vistorte, Angel O Rojas
- Venue
- The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2018-05-28
- Volume
- 53
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 317-338
- ISSN
- 0033-278X (ISSN-L)
- 0091-2174
- 1541-3527
- OpenAlex
- W2807137540
- Cited by
- 160
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 25 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 2.10
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- orcid.org
- Locations
- The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- London School of Economics and Political Science Research Online (London School of Economics and Political Science) (submittedVersion)
- London School of Economics and Political Science Theses Online (London School of Economics and Political Science) (submittedVersion)
- UNIFESP Institutional Repository (Universidade Federal de São Paulo) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- European Commission (2007–2013, FP7 2007-2013, FP7/2007)
- Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
- Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
- Universidade de São Paulo
- Ministério da Educação
- FP7 Ideas: European Research Council (337673)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Obesity and Health Practices
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychology and Mental Health
- Keywords
- stigmatizing attitudes, mental illness, primary care physicians, mental health stigma, schizophrenia, depression, physician experience, age differences, medication adherence, barriers to treatment, mental health training
- MeSH terms
- Attitude of Health Personnel, Mental Disorders, Humans, Primary Health Care, Stereotyping, Needs Assessment, Social Stigma, Physicians, Primary Care
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