Assessment of self stigma and medication adherence among patients with mental illness who had been treated in Jimma Hospital, Western Ethiopia,2017: community based cross sectional study

Abstract

Backgroundself Stigma associated with psychiatric disorders and its treatment toward patients with mental illness is the main challengers for early and successful treatment outcome.\n\nObjectiveTo assess the association between self stigma and level of medication adherence among patients with mental illness who have been treated at psychiatric clinic, JUSH, South West Ethiopia, 2017.\n\nMethodsThis study is a community based cross sectional study design using a case tracing method to identify patients in the community. To get the study subject, tracing method was carried to get the patients who had history of treatment at psychiatric clinic, Jimma University Teaching Hospital. Interview based Questionnaire was used to get information from the participants. The relationship was checked by doing both bivariate and multi variables linear regression.\n\nResultOf the total respondents, males were185 (61.7%), females 115 (38.3%), and the mean age of the respondents was 34.99 (SD=11.51) years. From the total (n=300) respondents, more than half of them, 182 (60.7%) were adherent to their psychotropic medication. Among adherent respondents, of all types of stigma, minimal stigma was 63.2% whereas moderate to high stigma was 22.4%.\n\nConclusionIt was identified that there was high self stigma related to medication non adherent among patients with mental illness. Therefore, mental health professionals and the health care policy shall work to increase the level of psychotropic medication adherence so as to decrease self stigma associated with mental illness.