Mental Health Literacy: Impact of Newspaper Report on Increasing Recognition of Psychotic Prodrome

精神健康知識：報紙報導對於提高認識精神病前驅症狀之影響

10.29478/TJP.200912.0008

劉震鐘(Chen-Chung Liu)；邱玉蟬(Yu-Chan Chiu)；丘彥南(Yen-Nan Chiu)；賴孟泉(Meng-Chuan Lai)；胡海國(Hai-Gwo Hwu)

精神分裂症前驅症狀 ； 報紙報導 ； 影響 ； 精神健康知識 ； schizophrenic prodrome ； newspaper report ； impact ； mental health literacy

台灣精神醫學

23卷4期（2009 / 12 / 01）

320 - 330

英文

Background: Two waves of newspaper report of cases depicting favorable outcomes of early identification and intervention of a schizophrenic prodrome were released to facilitate identification of subjects at risk of psychosis. Methods: This study is a naturalistic observation of subjects who made appointments to a special clinic for risk assessment during November 1, 2006 to December 31, 2007 of a teaching hospital in Taipei. Results: We found that after the first wave of news report, the number of new appointments per session was significantly increased from 2.3 to 4.3 (t=2.94, df=42, p=0.0053), and that after the second wave of news report, the number was also significantly increased (6.7 new appointments/session, t=4.93, df=42, p＜0.001). But the second wave subjects included fewer (37%) eligible for case recruitment compared to the first wave (67%) and comparison (57 %) (χ^2=8.17, p=0.017). The subjects after the second wave were found to be much younger than the first wave (19.5±3.9 vs. 22.1±4.2 years old; t=-2.77, df=75, p=0.007) and the comparison group (21±4.1; t=-2.04, df=129, p=0.043). Conclusion: Newspaper reports drew attention in the lay public and prompted them to seek for assessment, yet the impact was affected by the subtle differences in reporting. For a relatively uncommon and ill-defined clinical entity with the prodromal state of psychosis, we suggest that approaches using media report should be finely tuned to facilitate audience's self-identification and referral. This observation adds information in understanding mental health literacy in the public in Taiwan.

Background: Two waves of newspaper report of cases depicting favorable outcomes of early identification and intervention of a schizophrenic prodrome were released to facilitate identification of subjects at risk of psychosis. Methods: This study is a naturalistic observation of subjects who made appointments to a special clinic for risk assessment during November 1, 2006 to December 31, 2007 of a teaching hospital in Taipei. Results: We found that after the first wave of news report, the number of new appointments per session was significantly increased from 2.3 to 4.3 (t=2.94, df=42, p=0.0053), and that after the second wave of news report, the number was also significantly increased (6.7 new appointments/session, t=4.93, df=42, p＜0.001). But the second wave subjects included fewer (37%) eligible for case recruitment compared to the first wave (67%) and comparison (57 %) (χ^2=8.17, p=0.017). The subjects after the second wave were found to be much younger than the first wave (19.5±3.9 vs. 22.1±4.2 years old; t=-2.77, df=75, p=0.007) and the comparison group (21±4.1; t=-2.04, df=129, p=0.043). Conclusion: Newspaper reports drew attention in the lay public and prompted them to seek for assessment, yet the impact was affected by the subtle differences in reporting. For a relatively uncommon and ill-defined clinical entity with the prodromal state of psychosis, we suggest that approaches using media report should be finely tuned to facilitate audience's self-identification and referral. This observation adds information in understanding mental health literacy in the public in Taiwan.

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