Prevalence of Aggressive Behavior and Associated Factors among Patients with Schizophrenia Attending at Amanuel Mental Specialized Hospital Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Mental illness and aggression are often seen as inextricably linked, creating a harsh stigma for patients and, at times, an uncomfortable environment for mental health professional. There is a growing body of evidence on aggressive behavior towards others by people with schizophrenia. Thus, this study was designed to assess the prevalence of aggressive behavior and associated factors among schizophrenia patients attending at Amanuel Mental Specialized Hospital.Method: Institutional based cross-sectional study was employed on 403 patients with schizophrenia attending at outpatient department of Amanuel Mental Specialized Hospital from May 1 to 31 2017. A systematic random sampling technique was used. Aggressive behavior was assessed by using Modified Overt Aggression Scale.The coded Data was checked, cleaned and entered into EPI-INFO version 3.5.3 and then exported into SPSS version 20 for analysis. Multivariable binary logistic regression was applied to find out the explanatory variables associated with aggressive behavior. Significance was declared at p-value <0.05.Results: The prevalence of aggression in this study was 107 (26.55%) by using Modified Overt Aggression Scale. Of 107 aggressive patients, 81(75.7%) and 26(24.3%) were male and female, respectively. The commonest associated factors for aggressive behavior include male [AOR=2.61, 95%CI (1.21, 5.61)], unemployment [AOR=8.03, 95%CI (3.08, 25.95)], previous history of aggression [AOR=6.22, 95%CI (2.75, 14.10)], Psychotic symptoms [AOR=8.12, (3.11, 21.14)], poor social support [AOR=3.11, 95%CI (1.35, 7.17)] and alcohol use [AOR=2.40, 95%CI (1.02, 5.66)].Conclusion: The prevalence of aggression behavior was found to be slightly high. Occupation, diagnosis episode of schizophrenia, previous history of aggression, types of drug taken, psychotic symptom, social support and alcohol use were found to be significantly associated with aggressive behavior. Clinicians should consider early detection& management of aggression.

Keywords: Aggression, Schizophrenia, Violence

DOI: 10.7176/JMPB/73-02

Publication date: January 31^st 2023