Assessment of mental health literacy among non-medical undergraduate students of Makerere University, Uganda.
- 1Department of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, University Rd, Kampala, 10218, Uganda. [email protected].
- 2Department of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, University Rd, Kampala, 10218, Uganda.
Abstract
Background
Mental disorders often begin during adolescence or young adulthood, with 75% of cases developing between the ages of 17 and 24. This age range coincides with the period when many individuals pursue higher education. Assessing mental health literacy among this population is critical as it influences the utilization of evidence-based mental health care. This study assessed mental health literacy among non-medical undergraduate students of Makerere University.Methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted on a random sample of 365 non-medical students of Makerere University using a semi-structured questionnaire adapted from mental health literacy scale. Descriptive statistics and ordinal logistic regression were used to analyze the data. Bloom's cutoffs were used to categorize the literacy levels.Results
The majority of the respondents, 282 (77.3%) had moderate knowledge of mental health. Only 138 (37.8%) had positive perceptions on mental health and few, 50 (13.7%) had positive attitudes towards people with mental health disorders. The overall mental health literacy was high in only 45 (12.3%) of the students and was significantly associated with being female (aOR = 0.422, P = 0.014) and having a history of a mental disorder (aOR = 2.485, P = 0.012).Conclusion
This study revealed that most non-medical students demonstrated moderate knowledge, with relatively few achieving high levels of mental health literacy and positive perceptions and attitudes towards people with mental health disorders. There is a need to introduce mental health course units to every academic program at the university to improve mental health literacy.
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BibTeX
@article{muzungu2026assessment,
title = {{Assessment of mental health literacy among non-medical undergraduate students of Makerere University, Uganda.}},
author = {Gerald Muzungu and Byron Kawooya and Diana Nassuuna Nakatudde and Rajab Kalidi and Henry Kyeyune},
journal = {BMC public health},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1186/s12889-026-28762-7},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42902196},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Assessment of mental health literacy among non-medical undergraduate students of Makerere University, Uganda.
AU - Gerald Muzungu
AU - Byron Kawooya
AU - Diana Nassuuna Nakatudde
AU - Rajab Kalidi
AU - Henry Kyeyune
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - BMC public health
DO - 10.1186/s12889-026-28762-7
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42902196
AB - Background Mental disorders often begin during adolescence or young adulthood, with 75% of cases developing between the ages of 17 and 24. This age range coincides with the period when many individuals pursue higher education. Assessing mental health literacy among this population is critical as it influences the utilization of evidence-based mental health care. This study assessed mental health literacy among non-medical undergraduate students of Makerere University.Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on a random sample of 365 non-medical students of Makerere University using a semi-structured questionnaire adapted from mental health literacy scale. Descriptive statistics and ordinal logistic regression were used to analyze the data. Bloom's cutoffs were used to categorize the literacy levels.Results The majority of the respondents, 282 (77.3%) had moderate knowledge of mental health. Only 138 (37.8%) had positive perceptions on mental health and few, 50 (13.7%) had positive attitudes towards people with mental health disorders. The overall mental health literacy was high in only 45 (12.3%) of the students and was significantly associated with being female (aOR = 0.422, P = 0.014) and having a history of a mental disorder (aOR = 2.485, P = 0.012).Conclusion This study revealed that most non-medical students demonstrated moderate knowledge, with relatively few achieving high levels of mental health literacy and positive perceptions and attitudes towards people with mental health disorders. There is a need to introduce mental health course units to every academic program at the university to improve mental health literacy.
SN - 1471-2458
ER -