Clinical trial NCT05325320: Intervention to Reduce Serious Mental Illness and Suicide Stigma Among Medical Students
Official title: Reducing Serious Mental Illness and Suicide Stigma Among Medical Students
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: NA
Conditions: Stigmatization
Clinical Competence
Lead sponsor: Ponce Medical School Foundation, Inc.
Sponsor class: INDUSTRY
Collaborators: name: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
First posted: 2022-04-13
Enrollment: 126
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 21
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Brief summary: The team aims to develop and test the efficacy of a serious mental illness (SMI) and suicide ideation and attempt (SIA) stigma reduction intervention for medical students. The team expects that after intervention exposure, relative to control group, participants in the experimental condition will manifest more favorable change in knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors.

Detailed description: People with serious mental illness (PSMI; i.e. Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder) die, on average, 25 years earlier than the general population. Suicide is a key factor for this disparity as it is the leading cause of unnatural deaths among this population. Research identifies Latinos as a particularly vulnerable group, accounting for one of the highest rates (over 30%) of serious mental illness (SMI) among ethnic minorities in the United States (US). Latinos also hold one of the highest prevalence of suicide ideation and attempts (SIA) with rates of 10.1% and 4.4% respectively. This scenario worsens for one Latino subgroup, Puerto Ricans, who have the highest prevalence of SMI (36%) and SIA among Latinos in the US (7.9% and 3.5% respectively). Taken together, these facts present a concerning scenario for Latinos, especially Puerto Ricans with SMI/SIA. Health professionals play a key role in identifying SMI/SIA among patients; unfortunately, SMI/SIA stigma hinders this process.

The proposed study aims to: 1) develop the content of an intervention to reduce SMI/SIA stigma among medical students, 2) determine the acceptability and feasibility of implementing the intervention among medical students by examining recruitment/screening procedures, participation/refusal/retention rates, and participant satisfaction, and; 3) pilot test the preliminary efficacy of the intervention in reducing SMI/SIA stigma among medical students by increasing knowledge of SMI and SIA, reducing negative attitudes towards SMI/SIA and increasing behavioral skills for providing healthcare to PSMI.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Medical student currently in third year of medical school training

Exclusion Criteria:

* Do not speak English

Primary outcomes:
measure: Increase from baseline in scores on the Behavioral Health Skills Inventory (BHSI)
timeFrame: Baseline, immediately after intervention, 2 week follow-up
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Increase from baseline in scores on the Serious Mental Illness Literacy Scale
timeFrame: Baseline, immediately after intervention, 2 week follow-up
measure: Increase from baseline in scores on the Literacy of Suicide Scale (LOSS)
timeFrame: Baseline, immediately after intervention, 2 week follow-up
measure: Decrease from baseline in scores on The Mental Health Stigma Scale for Health Professionals
timeFrame: Baseline, immediately after intervention, 2 week follow-up
measure: Decrease from Stigma of Suicide Scale (Short Version)
timeFrame: Baseline, immediately after intervention, 2 week follow-up
measure: Decrease from baseline in scores on The Emotional Reactions Scale
timeFrame: Baseline, immediately after intervention, 2 week follow-up
measure: Increase from baseline in scores on the Cross-Cultural Care Scale (CCCS)
timeFrame: Baseline, immediately after intervention, 2 week follow-up
Other outcomes:
measure: Intervention Contamination Inventory
timeFrame: Immediately after intervention, 2 week follow-up
measure: Intervention Acceptability Questionnaire
timeFrame: Immediately after intervention, 2 week follow-up
measure: Social Desirability Scale
timeFrame: Immediately after intervention, 2 week follow-up
Locations:
city: Miami
country: United States
facility: Florida International University
state: Florida
city: Ponce
country: Puerto Rico
facility: Ponce Health Sciences University
Study officials:
affiliation: Ponce Health Sciences University
name: Eliut Rivera-Segarra, Ph.D
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: Florida International University
name: Nelson Varas-Diaz, Ph.D
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: