Stigma resistance among people with schizophrenia at Amanuel Mental Specialized Hospital Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: a cross-sectional institution based study

Background: Schizophrenia is one of the most disabling and severely stigmatized mental disorders. Together with social stigma, internalized stigma and perceived stigma can trigger a vicious cycle and diminishes the stigma resistance abilities of individual. Helping patients to cope up with perceived and internalized stigma play crucial role in fighting stigma. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors of stigma resistance among people with schizophrenia attending the outpatient department of Amanuel Mental Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: Institution based cross-sectional study design was employed. Single population proportion formula was used to calculate sample size. Subjects were selected by systematic sampling techniques. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were performed to identify the presence and strength of association. Odds ratios with 95% confidence interval were computed to determine the level of significance. Results: A total of 411 subjects participated in the study giving a response rate of 97.4%. The prevalence of low stigma resistance was found to be 51.6%. Rural residence (AOR = 0.29 (95% CI: 0.142, 0.594), difficulties of adherence to antipsychotic medication (AOR = AOR = 0.3, 95% CI: 0.155, 0.542), internalized stigma (AOR = 0.24, 95% CI: (0.111, 0.530), alienation (AOR = 0.5, 95% CI: (0.270, 0.927), stereotype endorsement (AOR = 0.37(95% CI: 0.312, 0.463) and social withdrawal (AOR = 0.27, 95% CI: (0.156, 0.468) were factors statistically associated with low stigma resistance. Conclusion: In this study, overall more than half of the study participants had low stigma resistance. Rural residence, difficulties of adherence to antipsychotic medication, high internalized stigma, alienation and social withdrawal were factors statistically associated with low stigma resistance. Encouraging participations in different social relationships such as befriending programs, family and peer support groups are recommended.