Comparison of Attitudes of Medical Students and Interns towards People with Mental Illness in Delhi, India

Abstract

Abstract Objective: To assess and compare the attitudes of MBBS students and interns of medical colleges in Delhi towards People with Mental Illness. Materials and Methods: This study was cross-sectional and conducted in Delhi from February 2023 to July 2023. The study included 120 MBBS students and 118 MBBS interns from three randomly selected medical colleges of Delhi, who are willing to participate in the study. Results: Students were found to have a stigmatising attitude (mean score of 44.1 ± 8.4). When comparing attitude towards mental illness amongst medical students and interns, we found that the attitude of MBBS students displayed a slightly more stigmatising attitude (mean score of 44.5 ± 7.3) compared to MBBS interns (mean score of 43.6 ± 9.3), although the difference was not statistically significant ( P > 0.05). Conclusion: There is a need to enhance psychiatry education aimed at medical students and interns to provide basic information and thus demystify mental illness.