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Attitudes Toward Psychiatry: A Survey of Medical Students at the University of Nairobi, Kenya

Received November 12, 2006; revised April 23 and July 18, 2007; accepted August 3, 2007. Dr. Ndetei is a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Nairobi and Director of the Africa Mental Health Foundation (AMHF). Dr. Khasakhala is an Honorary Lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Nairobi. Dr. Ongecha-Owuor is a Consultant Psychiatrist at Coast Provincial General Hospital. Dr. Kuria is a Lecturer at the University of Nairobi. Ms. Mutiso, Ms. Syanda, and Drs. Kokonya, Khasakhala, Ongecha-Owuor, and Kuria are Research Associates with the Africa Mental Health Foundation (AMHF). Address correspondence to Prof. David M. Ndetei, Department of Psychiatry, University of Nairobi, Kenya, and Director, Africa Mental Health Foundation (AMHF), P.O. Box 48423 - 00100 Nairobi, Kenya; dmndetei{at}mentalhealthafrica.com or dmndetei@mail.uonbi.ac.ke (e-mail).

OBJECTIVES: The authors aim to determine the attitudes of University of Nairobi, Kenya, medical students toward psychiatry. METHODS: The study design was cross-sectional. Self-administered sociodemographic and the Attitudes Toward Psychiatry-30 items (ATP-30) questionnaires were distributed sequentially to every third medical student in his or her lecture theater before or immediately after the lectures. Analysis was done using SPSS version 11.5 and the results are presented in tables. RESULTS: Nearly 75% of the students had overall favorable attitudes toward psychiatry but only 14.3% considered psychiatry as a potential career choice. Sixty-six percent reported that they would not choose psychiatry as a career while the remaining 19.7% were not decided. CONCLUSIONS: There is dissonance between positive attitudes toward psychiatry and the choice of psychiatry as a potential career. Therefore, there is a need to bridge the gap by addressing the various factors that potentially account for this dissonance.

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