A cross-cultural comparison of British and Pakistani medical students' understanding of schizophrenia.

This study aimed to compare British, British Pakistani and Native Pakistani (from Pakistan) medical students' beliefs about the manifestation, causes and cures of schizophrenia, prior to any psychiatric training. A total of 305 participants completed a questionnaire on general beliefs about people with schizophrenia, causal explanations concerning the aetiology of schizophrenia and the role of hospitals and society in treating people with schizophrenia. It was predicted that compared with the British and British Pakistanis, the Pakistanis would have more negative beliefs and attitudes, considering people with schizophrenia to be more dangerous and unpredictable; they were also expected to use more superstitious beliefs to explain the cause of schizophrenia and its symptoms; as well as believe more in seeking help from God and faith healers. There was strong evidence to suggest that Pakistanis possessed more negative beliefs and attitudes about people with schizophrenia, but there was no evidence to indicate that Pakistanis believed more in superstitious causal explanations. Pakistanis were more likely to consider seeking help from faith healers, but not God, compared with British Pakistanis and the British. Results confirm previous European-Asian difference in the understanding of the cause, manifestation and cure of schizophrenia. The impact of traditional and Western cultural influences on British Pakistanis is considered.