Rodrigues Arthur N, Sousa Tarsis S, Marvão Márcio C R, Sena Diego S, Koshimoto Brenda H B, Silva Serginara C F P, Monteiro Vitoria V C, Fraiha Ana Luisa R, Santos Renato C, Santos-Lobato Bruno L
From the Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (A.N.R., T.S.S., B.L.S.-L.), Universidade do Estado do Pará; Instituto de Ciências Médicas (M.C.R.M., D.S.S., B.H.B.K.), Universidade Federal do Pará; Centro Universitário do Pará (S.C.F.P.S., V.V.C.M.); and Centro Universitário Metropolitano da Amazônia (A.L.R.F., R.C.S., B.L.S.-L.), Belém, Brasil.
Neurol Educ. 2023 Jun 9;2(3):e200076. doi: 10.1212/NE9.0000000000200076. eCollection 2023 Sep 25.
Neurologic disorders are common medical conditions. However, even with a higher demand for neurologic care, the capacity to train neurologists is impaired. The fear of neurosciences/neurology by medical students, known as neurophobia, may cause multiple adverse effects in neurologic assistance. The objectives of this study were to estimate the current prevalence and characteristics of neurophobia in medical students in Brazil and to compare neurophobic symptoms at 2 time points.
This is a cross-sectional study conducted with students from 4 medical schools in Pará, Brazil, who matriculated into the preclinical stage, clinical stage, and internship were submitted to a questionnaire to assess the perception of clinical specialties, including neurology. Reasons for neurophobia, probable strategies to improve neurologic education, and a specific scale to detect neurophobia were also evaluated. Furthermore, we performed a temporal comparison of current results with those from a previous study from 2015.
Neurophobia was detected in 63.3% of medical students. The perception of the difficulty in neurology/neurosciences was very high in all stages, and the perception of interest and quality of teaching worsened during the internship. The need to understand neuroanatomy and neurophysiology was cited as the most important reason for neurophobia. More and better bedside tutorials were the most mentioned suggestion to improve neurologic education. The temporal comparison between 2015 and 2022 showed that the level of knowledge, quality of teaching, and likelihood of pursuing a career in neurology has become more favorable in 2022.
The prevalence of neurophobia in Brazil was higher than that in high-income countries. Unfavorable opinions about neurology tended to increase throughout the medical course, but the temporal comparison showed that the impact of neurophobia has decreased. Surveillance systems for monitoring and tracking neurophobia should be implemented in medical schools.
神经系统疾病是常见的病症。然而，即便对神经科护理的需求不断增加，神经科医生的培养能力却受到了损害。医学生对神经科学/神经病学的恐惧，即所谓的神经恐惧症，可能会在神经科护理中引发多种不良影响。本研究的目的是评估巴西医学生中神经恐惧症的当前患病率及特征，并比较两个时间点的神经恐惧症状。
这是一项横断面研究，对巴西帕拉州4所医学院的学生进行了调查，这些学生分别处于临床前阶段、临床阶段和实习阶段，他们填写了一份问卷，以评估对包括神经病学在内的临床专业的看法。还评估了神经恐惧症的原因、改善神经科教育的可能策略以及一个检测神经恐惧症的特定量表。此外，我们将当前结果与2015年的一项先前研究结果进行了时间上的比较。
63.3%的医学生被检测出患有神经恐惧症。在所有阶段，对神经病学/神经科学难度的认知都非常高，而在实习期间，对兴趣和教学质量的认知有所恶化。认为需要理解神经解剖学和神经生理学是神经恐惧症最重要的原因。更多且更好的床边辅导是改善神经科教育时被提及最多的建议。2015年与2022年的时间比较表明，2022年在知识水平、教学质量以及从事神经病学职业的可能性方面变得更为有利。
巴西神经恐惧症的患病率高于高收入国家。对神经病学的负面看法在整个医学课程中往往会增加，但时间比较表明神经恐惧症的影响已经减弱。医学院应建立监测和跟踪神经恐惧症的监测系统。
