Impact of Video Presentations on Medical Students' Attitudes Toward Mental Illness

NCT ID: NCT03231761

Last Updated: 2019-01-03

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 300 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2017-08-21
• Study Completion Date: 2018-08-31

Brief Summary

This is a randomized controlled trial examining the impact of videos on medical students' implicit and explicit attitudes and knowledge related to mental illness in Nepal. Medical students are randomized to one of three conditions: (a) no video, (b) a didactic video based on the mental health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) modules for depression and psychosis; and (c) videos with personal testimonials from mental health service users with depression and psychosis.

Detailed Description

Stigma towards mental health patients exists within health systems worldwide, affecting high- and low-income countries alike. Stigmatizing beliefs held by health professionals toward mental illness can have detrimental health impacts on the patients. These stigmatizing beliefs against mental health patients within the health system have been noted across South Asia, including Nepal. Two sources of stigmatizing beliefs towards mental illness are explicit (conscious) and implicit (unconscious) attitudes held by health professionals. There is a dearth of research that investigates both explicit and implicit attitudes of health professionals towards mental health in South Asia though. One method to reduce stigma is through contact with people who suffer from mental illness. However, there is a gap in the literature on low- and middle-income countries integrating contact with mental health service users in health provider trainings. Forthcoming research in Nepal is exploring the causal impact of service user involved mental health trainings of health professionals on explicit and implicit attitudes as well as clinical care, but this research has yet to investigate the effects of service user training on health professional students (in progress). Research efforts on mental health trainings should be expanded to student populations to reduce negative attitudes before providers enter the workforce.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether information-based training with or without service user testimony is more effective at reducing implicit and explicit biases toward mental health patients and increasing clinical care in Nepali health professional students. The findings from this study will fill the gap in research that evaluates intervention efficacy of reducing stigma towards mental health patients in Nepali student health education. By implementing mental health trainings, the long-term goals of this intervention are to reduce stigma held by health professionals against mental health patients and improve clinical care in Nepal by reducing negative implicit and explicit attitudes.

Conditions

Stigmatization; Depression; Psychosis

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: OTHER
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Service user testimonial videos

Videos with service user testimonials about depression and psychosis

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Service user testimonial videos

Intervention Type: OTHER

Service users describe their personal experiences receiving care for depression or psychosis and the impact of the treatment on their quality of life

mhGAP didactic video

The intervention in the active comparator arm includes two didactic videos with instruction about depression and psychosis based on the World Health Organization mental health Gap Action Programme (mhGAP) modules for those conditions

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

mhGAP didactic video

Intervention Type: OTHER

Video with a narrated slide presentation describing diagnosis and treatment of depression and psychosis

No video

Participants do not observe any videos prior to the assessment

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Service user testimonial videos

Service users describe their personal experiences receiving care for depression or psychosis and the impact of the treatment on their quality of life

Intervention Type: OTHER

mhGAP didactic video

Video with a narrated slide presentation describing diagnosis and treatment of depression and psychosis

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Medical students in universities in Nepal

Exclusion Criteria

• Medical students are excluded if they have already completed their psychiatric clinical rotation

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

George Washington University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Brandon A Kohrt, MD, PhD

Associate Professor of Psychiatry

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Brandon Kohrt, MD, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

George Washington University

Locations

Tribhuvan University Institute of Medicine

Maharajgunj, Kathmandu, Nepal

Kathmandu University School of Medicine

Dhulikhel, , Nepal

Countries

Nepal

References

Tergesen CL, Gurung D, Dhungana S, Risal A, Basel P, Tamrakar D, Amatya A, Park LP, Kohrt BA. Impact of Service User Video Presentations on Explicit and Implicit Stigma toward Mental Illness among Medical Students in Nepal: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Feb 22;18(4):2143. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18042143.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 33671743 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

146/2017

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id