Prevalence and associated factors for perceived stigma among caregivers of patients with mental illness in Ethiopia: A national based systematic review and meta-analysis

This study planned to assess the prevalence and associated factor of perceived stigma among caregiver of patient with mental illness in Ethiopia. The Design of this study is a systematic review and meta-analysis. We searched from database PubMed, Google Scholar, and CINAHL and studies available from inception to August 2024. The quality of eligible studies was assessed using Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). A DerSimonian-Laird random-effects meta-analysis was used to estimate the pooled effect size of the outcome measures with their 95% CI. Stata version 14.0 (StataCorp, College Station, Texas, USA) was used for statistical analysis. A total of five studies reported the prevalence of perceived stigma among caregivers of patients with mental illness. The pooled prevalence of perceived stigma was 65% (95% CI: 41%-88%), with high heterogeneity (<i>I</i>² = 99.6%, <i>p</i> < 0.001). Longer caregiving duration (2.08, 95% CI: 0.87-3.29), and poor social support (4.20, 95% CI: 2.30-6.11) were associated with perceived stigma. Perceived stigma among caregivers of patient with mental illness is high in Ethiopia. The prevalence of perceived stigma prevalence varies across regions. Addressing perceived stigma among caregivers of individuals with mental illness in Ethiopia should be a priority for mental health services and policy makers. <b>PROSPERO registration number</b>: CRD42024581201.