Department of Health Promotion and Health Education, College of Public Health and Health Informatics, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
PLoS One. 2024 Aug 13;19(8):e0307163. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0307163. eCollection 2024.
Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by excessive fear of scrutiny in social situations. Health students are more susceptible to SAD due to academic demands. They may resort to self-medication, particularly beta-blockers (BBs) for managing physical symptoms of SAD. The study aims to investigate the prevalence of beta-blocker use and its relationship with social anxiety disorder among health students at Umm Al-Qura University.
In this cross-sectional study, 461 undergraduate health students participated in a questionnaire with 30 questions divided into three sections: The Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN), BBs usage behavior questionnaire, and demographic characteristics.
The study found 56.2% had SAD. A total of 7.8% of the sample reported using BBs, and no significant correlation was found between the usage of BBs and the SAD score (P = 0.085).
The study revealed significant relationships between the presence of SAD with gender, history of mental conditions, and correlation between the use of BBs with history of mental conditions. Although BBs usage is low among health students, the prevalence of SAD is alarming. The results could raise awareness about the need for early detection of SAD among health students.
社交焦虑障碍（SAD）是一种以在社交场合中过度害怕被审视为特征的焦虑障碍。由于学业要求，医学生更容易患 SAD。他们可能会选择自我用药，特别是β受体阻滞剂（BBs）来控制 SAD 的身体症状。本研究旨在调查吉达艾卜哈的乌姆古拉大学医学生中β受体阻滞剂的使用情况及其与社交焦虑障碍的关系。
在这项横断面研究中，461 名本科医学生参加了一个包含 30 个问题的问卷，分为三个部分：社交恐惧症量表（SPIN）、BBs 使用行为问卷和人口统计学特征。
研究发现 56.2%的人患有 SAD。共有 7.8%的样本报告使用了 BBs，但 BBs 的使用与 SAD 评分之间没有显著相关性（P = 0.085）。
研究表明，SAD 的存在与性别、精神病史之间存在显著关系，与 BBs 的使用与精神病史之间存在相关性。尽管医学生中 BBs 的使用量较低，但 SAD 的患病率令人担忧。研究结果可能会提高人们对医学生中早期发现 SAD 的必要性的认识。
