Staff regard towards working with patients who have co-morbid depression and substance misuse disorders
Abstract
Background. Patients having co-morbid mental health and substance misuse experience poorer treatment outcomes than those treated for either condition alone. Studies suggest health professionals regard towards these patients is a factor. Aims. To compare regard towards patients with co-morbid depression and substance misuse across different health professions and services, relative to independent conditions (depression, diabetes, alcohol and/or drug misuse). Methods. A cross-sectional comparative exploratory study of regard towards five patient groups conducted on multi-disciplinary staff (general practitioners, psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses and social workers. Total n=113) in three Scottish NHS board regions – NHS Fife, Tayside and Forth Valley. Services from three main treatment entry points were recruited in each region - 10 primary care services (43.5%), 7 mental health (70%) and 4 specialist addiction (100%). Descriptive statistics were calculated for regard towards each patient group. Multifactorial between subjects ANOVA examined influences on Medical Condition Regard Scale (MCRS) scores. Results . Regard towards patients with co-morbid depression and substance misuse was frequently lower than towards patients with independent conditions. Male professionals held lower regard towards these patients than female (p=0.03). Addiction services held the highest regard and general practice lowest (p <0.001). Over-45’s held the lowest regard towards these patients (p=0.02). Health professional’s satisfaction with working with these patients was also low (mean 1.98, sd 1.22) compared to other conditions. Conclusions. Regard towards patients with co-morbid depression and substance misuse is lower than either condition independently, particularly among older, male professionals and those in general practice.
Citation
Nutt , R A , Gilchrist , G , Marsa Sambola , F & Baldacchino , A M 2017 , ' Staff regard towards working with patients who have co-morbid depression and substance misuse disorders ' , Heroin Addiction and Related Clinical Problems , vol. 19 , no. 2 , pp. 5-16 .
Publication
Heroin Addiction and Related Clinical Problems
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1592-1638Type
Journal article
Rights
© 2016, Publisher / the Author(s). This work is made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the final published version of the work, which was originally published at heroinaddictionrelatedclinicalproblems.org
Description
Funding: European Commission (contract number 2005322)Collections
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