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The Italian Version of the Opening Minds Stigma Scale for Healthcare Providers: Validation and Study on a Sample of Bachelor Students

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Abstract

Prejudices on psychiatric disorders frequently turn into stigmatizating attitudes, also among health care providers. The Opening Minds Stigma Scale for Health Care Providers (OMS-HC) was introduced in 2012 to measure stigma. No Italian versions of this tool exist so far. We wanted to investigate stigma among healthcare students in Italy, and to prepare an Italian version of the scale. A multicentric, cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of Nursing, Physiotherapy, Occupational therapy, and Dietistics students. The Italian version of the scale was obtained through back-translation.
561 students were enrolled, median age 21 years, IQR [20;23], 62.22% females (n = 349). 262 students declared having met subjetcs affected by psychiatric disorders during their training; 50 had one or more psychiatric disorders in their lives. The Italian version proved valid and reliable. Older students had lower stigma scores. No differences existed between stigma scores according to gender and personal experience of mental illness.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, University of Milan, Via Ovada, 26, 20142, Milan, Italy

    Anne Destrebecq

  2. San Paolo Bachelor School of Nursing, San Paolo Teaching Hospital, University of Milan, Via Ovada, 26, 20142, Milan, Italy

    Paolo Ferrara

  3. Bachelor’s Course in Physiotherapy, San Paolo Teaching Hospital, University of Milan, Via Ovada 26, 20142, Milan, Italy

    Luca Frattini

  4. Bachelor’s Course in Nursing, San Donato Teaching Hospital, University of Milan, Milan, San Donato Milanese, Italy

    Francesco Pittella

  5. Milan, Italy

    Gemma Rossano

  6. Department of Mental Health, San Paolo Teaching Hospital, Via A. di Rudinì 8, 20142, Milan, Italy

    Giuseppe Striano

  7. San Paolo Bachelor School of Nursing, San Paolo Teaching Hospital, University of Milan, Via Ovada, 26, 20142, Milan, Italy

    Stefano Terzoni

  8. Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, University of Milan, Via A. di Rudinì 8, 20142, Milan, Italy

    Orsola Gambini

Authors
  1. Anne Destrebecq
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  2. Paolo Ferrara
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  3. Luca Frattini
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  4. Francesco Pittella
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  5. Gemma Rossano
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  6. Giuseppe Striano
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  7. Stefano Terzoni
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  8. Orsola Gambini
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Correspondence to Paolo Ferrara.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or research committe and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Destrebecq, A., Ferrara, P., Frattini, L. et al. The Italian Version of the Opening Minds Stigma Scale for Healthcare Providers: Validation and Study on a Sample of Bachelor Students. Community Ment Health J 54, 66–72 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-017-0149-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-017-0149-0

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