Abudasser Abdulaziz Muflih, Alshehri Ibtihal Sultan M, Alasiri Raghad Yahya S, Wakidah Rahaf Yahya, Alqahtani Raghad Yahya
Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Abha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Abha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Adv Med Educ Pract. 2025 Jul 5;16:1187-1196. doi: 10.2147/AMEP.S522512. eCollection 2025.
This study aims to assess the association between social anxiety disorder (SAD) and specialty preference among medical residents and interns in Saudi Arabia.
A multi-center cross-sectional analytical study was conducted among medical interns and residents across Saudi Arabia. A validated online questionnaire was distributed between July 12 and September 2, 2023. Social anxiety was measured using the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS), a 20-item self-reported tool. A score of ≥36 was used to identify significant levels of social anxiety.
A total of 196 interns and residents participated in the study. The most preferred specialties included surgical subspecialties (31.1%), followed by medical subspecialties (19.9%). A total of 47 participants (24%) reported that fear influenced their specialty choice, while 63 (32.1%) exhibited significant levels of social anxiety. Social anxiety was significantly higher among interns (59.4%) than residents (33.3% for R1 and 35.1% for R2), with none reported among R5 residents (P =0.001). Fear of social interaction was most common in paramedical (88.9%) and radiology (69.2%) specialties.
Nearly one in three residents and interns experienced significant social anxiety, which influenced their specialty selection-particularly toward less patient- facing fields such as radiology and paramedical specialties. These findings underscore the importance of early psychological screening and support in medical training, which could inform medical education reforms and workforce planning to ensure balanced specialty distribution in the healthcare system.
本研究旨在评估沙特阿拉伯住院医师和实习医师社交焦虑障碍（SAD）与专业偏好之间的关联。
在沙特阿拉伯各地的医学实习医师和住院医师中开展了一项多中心横断面分析研究。在2023年7月12日至9月2日期间分发了一份经过验证的在线问卷。使用社交互动焦虑量表（SIAS）测量社交焦虑，这是一种包含20个条目的自我报告工具。得分≥36用于确定社交焦虑的显著水平。
共有196名实习医师和住院医师参与了该研究。最受欢迎的专业包括外科亚专业（31.1%），其次是医学亚专业（19.9%）。共有47名参与者（24%）报告恐惧影响了他们的专业选择，而63名（32.1%）表现出显著水平的社交焦虑。实习医师中的社交焦虑显著高于住院医师（59.4%，而R1住院医师为33.3%，R2住院医师为35.1%），R5住院医师中无人报告有社交焦虑（P =0.001）。对社交互动的恐惧在辅助医疗专业（88.9%）和放射科（69.2%）最为常见。
近三分之一的住院医师和实习医师经历了显著的社交焦虑，这影响了他们的专业选择，尤其是倾向于选择如放射科和辅助医疗专业等较少面对患者的领域。这些发现强调了在医学培训中进行早期心理筛查和支持的重要性，这可为医学教育改革和劳动力规划提供参考，以确保医疗系统中专业分布的平衡。
