Beliefs and Attitudes of Health Care Professionals Toward Mental Health Services Users’ Rights: A Cross-Sectional Study from the United Arab Emirates

Figures & data

Table 1 Descriptive Statistics of the Study Population in the Healthcare Study with Respect to Nationality

Nationality	Total (%)
Argentina	1 (0.36)
Australia	1 (0.36)
Bahrain	1 (0.36)
Canada	1 (0.36)
Egypt	25 (9.09)
Ghana	1 (0.36)
Greece	1 (0.36)
India	91 (33.09)
Ireland	1 (0.36)
Jordan	26 (9.45)
Kenya	1 (0.36)
Lebanon	1 (0.36)
Oman	1 (0.36)
Pakistan	5 (1.82)
Palestine	2 (0.73)
Philippines	73 (26.55)
Sudan	4 (1.46)
Syria	4 (1.46)
United Arab Emirates	25 (9.09)
United Kingdom	6 (2.18)
United States of America	1 (0.36)
Yemen	3 (1.09)
Total	275 (100)

Table 2 Results of the Responses to “Which Professional Group Do You Belong to?”

Item	Total (%)
Medical Doctor	31 (11.27)
Nurse	149 (54.18)
Social Worker	1 (0.36)
Paramedic	41 (14.90)
Non-medical	5 (1.82)
Other	48 (17.45)
Total	275 (100)

Table 3 Descriptive Statistics of the Study Population in the Healthcare Study in Respect to the Highest Education Level

Item	Total (%)
Doctorate	13 (4.73)
Master’s degree	42 (15.27)
Bachelor’s degree	182 (66.18)
High school diploma	7 (2.55)
Higher Diploma	31 (11.27)
Total	275 (100)

Table 4 Results of the Responses to “What are the Primary Work Settings Where You Work for About Five Hours or More per Week?”

Item	Total (%)
General primary care setting	140
Other general medical settings (including university medical center, medical school)	34
Mental health services setting (including university-based facility, hospital department, outpatient clinic)	49
Substance abuse specialty program	7 (1.86)
Private clinical practice (solo or group)	9 (2.39)
University (not in medical, mental health, or substance abuse treatment setting)	3 (0.80)
Public health administration or government agency	91
Non-governmental organization (NGO)	6

Table 5 Results of the Responses About the Types of Mental Health Services That the Participants Personally Provide to Patients as Part of Their Regular Professional Activities

Item	Total (%)
Diagnostic assessment of mental and behavioral disorders	90
Evaluation and management of psychoactive medications	52
Psychological assessment (eg, neuropsychological evaluation, personality testing, etc.)	78
Psychological (talk) therapy	54
Psychoeducation	32
None	97
Other (please specify)	27

Table 6 The Responses to the Question on the Expected Proportion of People in the UAE Who Might Suffer from a Mental Health Disorder During Their Life

Item	Total (%)
1 out of 1000	80 26.1
1 out of 100	91 (29.6)
1 out of 50	72 (23.5)
1 out of 4	48 (15.6)
1 out of 3	16 (5.2)

Table 7 Results of Unconditional Association of Providing Healthcare to Mental Health Patients (Yes or No) and Other Variables of Interest Using the Univariable Logistic Regression Model

Item	Level	OR	95% CI^b	P-value
BAMHS3: People should not be involuntarily hospitalized if they do not pose a threat to the integrity of others.	Agree	Ref^a	Ref	0.055
	Disagree	1.76	0.99–3.25
BAMHS15: I am uncomfortable with patients who regularly use emergency services.	Agree	Ref	Ref	0.019
	Disagree	1.88	1.11–3.18
BAMHS20: Greater importance should be placed on promoting the patient’s independence than on reducing the patient’s symptoms.	Agree	Ref	Ref	0.092
	Disagree	1.79	0.91–3.73

Notes: Adapted from Eiroa-Orosa F, Limiñana-Bravo L. An Instrument to Measure Mental Health Professionals’ Beliefs and Attitudes towards Service Users’ Rights. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019;16(2):244.²²

Abbreviations: ^aRef, Reference; ^bCI, Confidence interval.

Table 8 Results of Unconditional Association of the Nationality (Emirati vs Expat) of the Healthcare Providers and Other Variables of Interest Using the Univariable Logistic Regression Model

Item	Level	OR	95% CI	P-value
BAMHS3: People should not be involuntarily hospitalized if they do not pose a threat to the integrity of others.	Agree	Ref	Ref	0.027
	Disagree	0.295	0.07–0.88
BAMHS15: I am uncomfortable with patients who regularly use emergency services.	Agree	Ref	Ref	0.027
	Disagree	0.39	0.17–0.89
BAMHS19: Respecting the patients’ dignity is important, but some aspects of treatment may require flexibility.	Agree	Ref	Ref	0.0038
	Disagree	4.95	1.74–13.09
BAMHS23: Some patients will never be able to recover.	Agree	Ref	Ref	0.015
	Disagree	0.34	0.13–0.81

Notes: Adapted from Eiroa-Orosa F, Limiñana-Bravo L. An Instrument to Measure Mental Health Professionals’ Beliefs and Attitudes towards Service Users’ Rights. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019;16(2):244.²²

Table 9 Results of Association Between the Number of Years of Professional Experience of the Healthcare Providers and Other Variables of Interest Using the Linear Regression Model

Item	Level	Estimate	95% CI	P-value
BAMHS2: It is possible to recover without professional interventions.	Agree	Ref	Ref	0.064
	Disagree	1.74	−0.103–3.58
BAMHS10: Declaring someone with a severe mental disorder incapacitated is a good way of taking care of that person.	Agree	Ref	Ref	0.039
	Disagree	−1.87	−3.65 – (−0.09)
BAMHS18: I would be comfortable if a person with a mental disorder were a teacher in a school.	Agree	Ref	Ref	0.002
	Disagree	2.84	1.03–4.66
BAMHS22: When dealing with patients it is important for me not to get emotionally involved.	Agree	Ref	Ref	0.0004
	Disagree	4.89	2.59–7.19
BAMHS23: Some patients will never be able to recover.	Agree	Ref	Ref	0.01
	Disagree	2.30	0.54–4.06
	Disagree

Notes: Adapted from Eiroa-Orosa F, Limiñana-Bravo L. An Instrument to Measure Mental Health Professionals’ Beliefs and Attitudes towards Service Users’ Rights. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019;16(2):244.²²

Eiroa-Orosa F, Limiñana-Bravo L. An instrument to measure mental health professionals’ beliefs and attitudes towards service users’ rights. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019;16(2):244. doi:10.3390/ijerph16020244

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