Stigmatising Attitudes Towards Mental Health Conditions Among Medical Students In Five South-Eastern European Countries

Harhaji, Sanja; Tomori, Sonila; Nakov, Vladimir; Chihai, Jana; Radić, Ivana; Mana, Tedi; Stoychev, Kaloyan; Esanu, Andrei; Pirlog, Mihail Cristian

doi:10.2478/sjph-2024-0025

Figures & Tables

Characteristics of the study samples_

Characteristics	Albania n (%)	Bulgaria n (%)	Moldova n (%)	Romania n (%)	Serbia n (%)	Total n (%)
2015/2016
Gender
Men	52 (22.0)	68 (28.0)	74 (23.6)	127 (31.9)	106 (31.6)	427 (28.0)
Women	184 (78.0)	175 (72.0)	240 (76.4)	271 (68.1)	229 (68.4)	1099 (72.0)
Year of study
First	126 (53.4)	111 (45.7)	229 (72.9)	207 (52.0)	187 (55.8)	860 (56.4)
Final	110 (46.6)	132 (54.3)	85 (27.1)	191 (48.0)	148 (44.2)	666 (43.6)
Total	236 (100.0)	243 (100.0)	314 (100.0)	398 (100.0)	335 (100.0)	1526 (100.0)
Age (years, M±SD)	21.5±2.7	22.2±3.2	20.8±2.6	21.8±2.9	21.3±2.5	21.5±2.8

2020/2021
Gender
Men	21 (18.4)	45 (44.6)	24 (27.0)	40 (19.7)	27 (25.2)	157 (25.6)
Women	93 (81.6)	56 (55.4)	65 (73.0)	163 (80.3)	80 (74.8)	457 (74.4)
Total	114 (100.0)	101 (100.0)	89 (100.0)	203 (100.0)	107 (100.0)	614 (100.0)
Age (years, M±SD)	24.3±1.6	24.1±2.0	25.0±2.0	24.9±1.4	25.3±1.7	24.8±1.7

Association between gender, year of study, country and AQ-9/MICA-2 scores in the first stage of the research_

Year of Study	AQ-9 Score				p	MICA-2 Score				p

	Low		High			Low		High

	n	%	n	%		n	%	n	%
Gender
Men	244	57.1	183	42.9	0.040	238	55.7	189	44.3	0.332
Women	563	51.2	536	48.8		582	53.0	517	47.0
Year of study
First	453	52.7	407	47.3	0.877	444	51.6	416	48.4	0.063
Final	354	53.2	312	46.8		376	56.5	290	43.5
Country
Albania	149	63.1	87	36.9	<0.001	74	31.4	162	68.6	<0.001
Bulgaria	92	37.9	151	62.1		39	16.0	204	84.0
Moldova	158	50.3	156	49.7		155	49.4	159	50.6
Romania	173	43.5	225	56.5		239	60.1	159	39.9
Serbia	235	70.1	100	29.9		313	93.4	22	6.6

AQ-9 and MICA-2 scores measured among medical students_

Characteristics	AQ-9			MICA-2

	M	SD	p^*	M	SD	p^*
Albania
First year (2015/2016)	32.6	10.4	0.440	54.5	6.1	0.485
Men	34.3	10.0		55.3	5.1
Women
Final year (2015/2016)	30.2	8.8	0.668	52.3	6.3	0.714
Men	31.2	9.4		52.8	6.0
Women
Final year (2020/2021)	33.8	9.8	0.727	54.7	4.5	0.645
Men	32.9	11.2		54.1	5.5
Women
First year (2015/2016)	33.9	10.1	0.022	55.1	5.4	<0.001
Final year (2015/2016)	31.0	9.2		52.7	6.0
First year (2015/2016)	33.9	10.1	0.550	55.1	5.4	0.187
Final year (2020/2021)	33.1	10.9		54.2	5.3
Bulgaria
First year (2015/2016)	42.4	10.8	0.888	59.2	7.0	0.929
Men	42.0	10.0		59.0	9.0
Women
Final year (2015/2016)	35.8	7.3	0.393	57.5	8.7	0.179
Men	37.0	8.4		55.8	5.5
Women
Final year (2020/2021)	32.3	8.2	0.352	50.6	7.4	0.288
Men	33.9	9.2		52.3	7.6
Women
First year (2015/2016)	42.1	10.1	<0.001	59.1	8.7	0.010
Final year (2015/2016)	36.6	8.0		56.5	6.9
First year (2015/2016)	42.1	10.1	<0.001	59.1	8.7	<0.001
Final year (2020/2021)	33.2	8.7		51.5	7.5
Moldova
First year (2015/2016)
Men	35.5	10.6	0.477	52.9	6.4	0.181
Women	34.4	9.5		51.6	6.1
Final year (2015/2016)
Men	34.3	12.8	0.011	52.2	5.2	0.682
Women	41.7	11.0		51.7	5.2
Final year (2020/2021)
Men	32.7	11.1	0.259	43.8	11.5	0.101
Women	35.9	12.0		47.8	9.6
First year (2015/2016)	34.7	9.8	<0.001
Final year (2015/2016)	39.8	11.9		51.9	6.2	0.887
First year (2015/2016)	34.7	9.8	0.787	51.8	5.2
Last year (2020/2021)	35.0	11.8		51.9	6.2	<0.001
				46.7	10.2
Romania
First year (2015/2016)
Men	36.9	9.4	0.805	52.2	8.4	0.100
Women	37.3	9.1		50.1	9.0
Final year (2015/2016)
Men	37.5	11.0	0.850	47.4	9.5	0.703
Women	37.8	10.5		46.9	8.3
Final year (2020/2021)
Men	34.1	10.9	0.517	43.7	7.2	0.292
Women	32.9	10.4		42.4	6.5
First year (2015/2016)	37.1	9.2	0.550	50.8	8.9	<0.001
Final year (2015/2016)	37.7	10.6		47.0	8.7
First year (2015/2016)	37.1	9.2	<0.001	50.8	8.9	<0.001
Final year (2020/2021)	33.1	10.5		42.7	6.7
Serbia
First year (2015/2016)
Men	32.3	8.1	0.058	41.7	7.8	0.148
Women	29.6	9.6		40.1	6.7
Final year (2015/2016)
Men	28.6	7.0	0.092	41.1	5.7	0.921
Women	31.2	9.3		41.0	7.8
Final year (2020/2021)
Men	31.4	9.9	0.108	39.2	10.4	0.007
Women	28.6	7.1		34.5	6.5
First year (2015/2016)	30.5	9.2	0.924	40.6	7.0	0.589
Final year (2015/2016)	30.4	8.6		41.0	7.2
First year (2015/2016)	30.5	9.2	0.280	40.6	7.0	<0.001
Final year (2020/2021)	29.3	8.0		35.7	7.8

Association between gender, year of study, country and AQ-9/MICA-2 scores in the first stage of the research (logistic regression—adjusted OR)_

Year of Study	AQ-9 Score		MICA-2 Score

	AOR (95% CI)	p	AOR (95% CI)	p
Gender
Men	1		1
Women	1.3 (1.0–1.6)	0.029	1.0 (0.7–1.3)	0.805
Year of study
First year	1		1
Final year	1.0 (0.8–1.2)	0.657	0.7 (0.5–0.9)	0.002
Country
Serbia	1		1
Albania	1.3 (0.9–1.9)	0.104	32.3 (19.3–54.1)	<0.001
Bulgaria	3.9 (2.7–5.5	<0.001	79.8 (45.8–139.2)	<0.001
Moldova	2.3 (1.6–3.1)	<0.001	13.9 (8.5–22.6)	<0.001
Romania	3.1 (2.3–4.2)	<0.001	9.7 (6.0–15.7)	<0.001

AQ-9 and MICA-2 scores between countries_

Year of Study		Albania		Bulgaria		Moldova		Romania		Serbia		p^*

		M	SD	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD	M	SD
AQ—9
2015/2016	First	33.9	10.1	42.1	10.1	34.7	9.8	37.1	9.2	30.5	9.2	<0.001
	Final	31.0	9.2	36.6	8.0	39.8	11.9	37.7	10.6	30.4	8.6	<0.001
2020/2021	Final	33.1	10.9	33.2	8.7	35.0	11.8	33.1	10.5	29.3	8.0	0.002

MICA—2
2015/2016	First	55.1	5.4	59.1	8.7	51.9	6.2	50.8	8.9	40.6	7.0	<0.001
	Final	52.7	6.0	56.5	7.0	51.8	5.2	47.0	8.7	41.0	7.2	<0.001
2020/2021	Final	54.2	5.3	51.5	7.5	46.7	10.2	42.7	6.7	35.7	7.8	<0.001

Association between gender, year of study, country and AQ-9/MICA-2 scores in the first stage of the research (logistic regression—unadjusted OR)_

Year of Study	AQ-9 Score		MICA-2 Score

	OR (95% CI)	p	OR (95% CI)	p
Gender
Men	1		1
Women	1.3 (1.0–1.6)	0.037	1.1 (0.9–1.4)	0.291
Year of study
First year	1		1
Final year	1.0 (0.8–1.2)	0.853	0.8 (0.6–1.0)	0.021
Country
Serbia	1		1
Albania	1.4 (1.0–2.0)	0.079	35.2 (21.6–57.5)	<0.0001
Bulgaria	3.9 (2.7–5.5)	<0.0001	75.0 (43.7–128.7)	<0.0001
Moldova	2.3 (1.7–3.2)	<0.0001	14.7 (9.4–23.0)	<0.0001
Romania	3.1 (2.2–4.2)	<0.0001	9.1 (5.9–14.0)	<0.0001

Stigmatising Attitudes Towards Mental Health Conditions Among Medical Students In Five South-Eastern European Countries

Figures & Tables

Characteristics of the study samples_

Association between gender, year of study, country and AQ-9/MICA-2 scores in the first stage of the research_

AQ-9 and MICA-2 scores measured among medical students_

Association between gender, year of study, country and AQ-9/MICA-2 scores in the first stage of the research (logistic regression—adjusted OR)_

AQ-9 and MICA-2 scores between countries_

Association between gender, year of study, country and AQ-9/MICA-2 scores in the first stage of the research (logistic regression—unadjusted OR)_

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