# Attitudes of Vietnamese University students on restrictions of rights and compulsory admissions in patients with severe mental illness – a cross-sectional study

## TL;DR

Vietnamese university students generally oppose restricting psychiatric patients' rights but support compulsory admissions in certain cases, with medical training influencing their views.

## Contribution

The study reveals how psychiatric education influences attitudes toward compulsory admissions among medical students.

## Key findings

- Most students opposed restricting civil rights of psychiatric patients.
- Medical students without psychiatry training were more in favor of compulsory admissions.
- Students with psychiatry training were more likely to support compulsory admissions in specific scenarios, except when based on family requests.

## Abstract

This cross-sectional, explorative study examines university students’ attitudes (n = 610) in Hanoi, Vietnam, toward the rights of psychiatric patients.

Medical students responded to self-report questionnaires investigating their attitudes towards restrictions and compulsory admissions in case of severe mental illness after attending a psychiatry course. Medical students and non-medical students who did not participate in the course served as two control groups.

In all groups, the majority of students opposed restricting the civil rights of psychiatric patients, but most supported compulsory admissions in certain situations. Medical students who had not attended a psychiatry course were generally more in favor of compulsory admissions compared to those who had attended a psychiatry course and non-medical students. However, when investigating attitudes on compulsory admission in specific scenarios, students that had attended a psychiatry course were more likely to endorse compulsory admissions, except when admission was based on the patient’s family request.

Medical and psychiatric training seem to encourage more differentiated opinions on the use of compulsory admissions in psychiatric care. Future research, including longitudinal designs and a broader geographical scope, is needed to better understand the impact of psychiatric education in medical studies on attitudes toward mental health.