Alsini Albaraa, Alkhodaidi Ishraq, Alsini Yasir, Alsseeni Sarh, Alkhodaidi Shrooq, Alsini Ehsan, Alsini Asim, Sindi Hamzah, Alswat Khaled
Resident, Department of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, Alhada Armed Forces Hospital, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
Medical Student, Faculty of Medicine, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2021 Mar 17;17:797-807. doi: 10.2147/NDT.S289833. eCollection 2021.
The development of beta-blocker (BB) medications is considered one of the most critical milestones of drug research. Several trials showed possible anti-anxiety effects of BBs. Our primary goal is to investigate the prevalence of anxiety disorder and the use of BBs as anxiolytic without medical prescription among medical and pharmacological students in Saudi Arabia.
A cross-sectional study was conducted at multiple universities in Saudi Arabia. Students were given a questionnaire containing 44 questions that included demographic data, school location, BB usage behavior, GPA status before and after using BBs, and a GAD-7 anxiety screening questionnaire.
A total of 3326 mainly female senior students participated in the study with a mean age of 21.9±1.7 years. According to the GAD-7 score, half of the sampled students did not meet criteria indicative of anxiety disorder, and one-third were considered to have mild anxiety with a significant positive correlation between the BB usage and the GAD-7 score. A total of 6.4% of the sample reported usage of BBs. Therapeutics and Internal Medicine were the most common subjects for which BBs were used. When compared to pharmacy students, medical students were more likely to be male, smokers, diagnosed with psychiatric illness, having a higher mean GAD-7 score, report BB usage, and correctly identified common and serious BB side effects.
The inappropriate use of BB drugs without medical advice might have short- and long-term effects, and those may be more vulnerable to have psychological issues in the future. Our findings shed light on the need to identify students who are taking BBs as being at high risk of underlying anxiety disorders.
β受体阻滞剂（BB）药物的研发被认为是药物研究中最关键的里程碑之一。多项试验表明BB可能具有抗焦虑作用。我们的主要目标是调查沙特阿拉伯医学和药学专业学生中焦虑症的患病率以及无医疗处方使用BB作为抗焦虑药的情况。
在沙特阿拉伯的多所大学进行了一项横断面研究。向学生发放了一份包含44个问题的问卷，这些问题包括人口统计学数据、学校所在地、BB使用行为、使用BB前后的平均绩点状况以及一份广泛性焦虑障碍-7（GAD-7）焦虑筛查问卷。
共有3326名主要为高年级女生参与了该研究，平均年龄为21.9±1.7岁。根据GAD-7评分，一半的抽样学生未达到焦虑症的诊断标准，三分之一被认为有轻度焦虑，且BB使用与GAD-7评分之间存在显著正相关。共有6.4%的样本报告使用了BB。治疗学和内科学是使用BB最常见的学科。与药学专业学生相比，医学专业学生更可能为男性、吸烟者、被诊断患有精神疾病、平均GAD-7评分更高、报告使用BB，并且能正确识别常见和严重的BB副作用。
在没有医疗建议的情况下不恰当地使用BB药物可能会产生短期和长期影响，而且这些学生未来可能更容易出现心理问题。我们的研究结果揭示了识别服用BB的学生存在潜在焦虑症高风险的必要性。
