Identification And Treatment of Patients With Problem Gambling in Nigeria: Can Psychiatrists Help?

Abstract

Given the likely consequence of undetected problem gambling, there is a need to evaluate the attitudes
of psychiatrists in Nigeria toward the need to get involved in the identification and treatment of patients
with problem gambling.
Fifty-five out of 68 psychiatrists that attended the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria conference
in Lagos, participated in the cross-sectional survey. A self-completion questionnaire was used to
explore the psychiatrists’ attitudes. Independent t-test and Analysis of Variance were used to examine
the association of perceived attitudes and other variables. Regression analysis was used to determine
independent predictors of positive attitudes. P-value ≤ 0.05.
Psychiatrists had positive attitudes about getting involved in the identification and treatment of problem
gambling even though only 18.20% of them had had training on problem gambling. The independent
predictors of more positive attitudes were female gender (β=.23, p=.02), the knowledge that problem
gambling commonly occurs with mental illness (β= -.29, p= .007), and confidence in detecting problem
gambling (β=- .29, p=.02).
The findings highlight the need for training and development of a protocol for the management of
problem gambling among psychiatrists in Nigeria.