Original Research

Cultural formulation interview: Awareness and attitudes of South African psychiatrists and psychiatry registrars

Dijeng J. Mabaso, Carla Kotze
South African Journal of Psychiatry | Vol 26 | a1467 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajpsychiatry.v26i0.1467 | © 2020 Dijeng J. Mabaso, Carla Kotze | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 24 August 2019 | Published: 23 October 2020

About the author(s)

Dijeng J. Mabaso, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Science, Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Carla Kotze, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Science, Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract

Background: The Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI) includes a set of 16 questions formulated for clinicians to obtain information about cultural influences on an individual’s clinical presentation during a mental health assessment. The CFI is a newly formulated interview that has been evaluated in various localities, but not in South Africa.

Aim: We assessed the awareness and attitudes of South African psychiatrists and psychiatrists in training towards the CFI and its use in their patient care.

Setting: Participants were recruited via the South African Society of Psychiatrists (SASOP) database and were invited to complete an online questionnaire.

Methods: Certain demographic aspects of psychiatrists and psychiatrists in training were compared with regard to their awareness of and attitudes towards the CFI.

Results: Of the 75 participants who completed the questionnaire, only 46.7% (n = 35) were aware of the CFI, and of these, only 5.3% (n = 4) used the CFI. There was generally a positive attitude towards the CFI with the majority of the participants agreeing that the CFI is easy to understand and relevant in clinical practice; however, none of the results showed statistical significance. Most participants who were aware of the CFI (89%, n = 31) were of the opinion that the CFI would prolong their patient assessment time.

Conclusion: Most participants had a positive attitude towards the CFI. The negative response regarding the CFI prolonging patient assessment time could be a potential barrier in its clinical application. This study is an essential first step for further research into the CFI and its use in SA and contributed towards improving awareness of the CFI.


Keywords

attitudes; Cultural Formulation Interview; psychiatrists; culture; mental health; formulation

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Crossref Citations

1. PREVENTION OF ADDICTIVE DISEASES THROUGH LEARNING ABOUT SAFETY CULTURE
BORO MERDOVIĆ, DRAGAN ŽIVALJEVIĆ
Kultura polisa  issue: (2021), special edition (1)  first page: 63  year: 2021  
doi: 10.51738/Kpolisa2021.18.1p.1.05