Should “medical students` disease” be regarded as a true disease entity? Cross-sectional study among Polish students
Introduction There is a widely known stereotype about medical majors repeated by generations of medical practitioners called ,,medical student disease”. It’s based on a belief that unexperienced students are prone to develop pathological fear of medical conditions they are studying about. Objectiv...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2022-06-01
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| Series: | European Psychiatry |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0924933822015292/type/journal_article |
| _version_ | 1797617510977110016 |
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| author | K. Szczurek N. Furgał D. Szczepanek K. Krysta M. Krzystanek |
| author_facet | K. Szczurek N. Furgał D. Szczepanek K. Krysta M. Krzystanek |
| author_sort | K. Szczurek |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Introduction
There is a widely known stereotype about medical majors repeated by generations of medical practitioners called ,,medical student disease”. It’s based on a belief that unexperienced students are prone to develop pathological fear of medical conditions they are studying about.
Objectives
The aim of the study was to examine two populations of students - medical and non-medical ones in order to compare their level of hypochondriacal behavior and health-related anxiety. Moreover we looked for other factors which might have had an influence on hypochondria and nosophobia among them.
Methods
The proprietary questionnaire was completed by 606 students (303 medical students of the Medical University of Silesia in Katowice and 293 students of the 3 largest non-medical universities in Katowice).
Results
The results show that medical students receive same scores on a nosophobia scale as students of non-medical universities (p=0,5). The analysis of hypochondriacal behavior showed significantly higher results in non-medical students group (p=0,02) .The higher medical students were at the stages of academic education, the higher the results of nosophobia they obtained. In the entire study group female received higher score in relation to the fear of illness (p = 0.001). People with mental disorders achieve significantly higher results of nosophobia (p <0.001 in the entire group) and of hypochondria (p <0.001 for the entire cohort).
Conclusions
Our study challenges the widespread belief that medical students, compared to their peers, are overly anxious about their own health. Gender and having a mental illness are predictors of hypochondria and nosophobia.
Disclosure
No significant relationships.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T07:56:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c56d224ff3214cbd93d9c0feaac42ac7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0924-9338 1778-3585 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T07:56:02Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Psychiatry |
| spelling | doaj.art-c56d224ff3214cbd93d9c0feaac42ac72023-11-17T05:05:41ZengCambridge University PressEuropean Psychiatry0924-93381778-35852022-06-0165S597S59710.1192/j.eurpsy.2022.1529Should “medical students` disease” be regarded as a true disease entity? Cross-sectional study among Polish studentsK. Szczurek0N. Furgał1D. Szczepanek2K. Krysta3M. Krzystanek4Medical University of Silesia, Students` Scientific Association, Department Of Rehabilitation Psychiatry, Katowice, PolandMedical University of Silesia, Students` Scientific Association, Department Of Rehabilitation Psychiatry, Katowice, PolandMedical University of Silesia, Students` Scientific Association, Department Of Rehabilitation Psychiatry, Katowice, PolandMedical University of Silesia, Department Of Rehabilitation Psychiatry, Katowice, PolandMedical University of Silesia, Department Of Rehabilitation Psychiatry, Katowice, Poland Introduction There is a widely known stereotype about medical majors repeated by generations of medical practitioners called ,,medical student disease”. It’s based on a belief that unexperienced students are prone to develop pathological fear of medical conditions they are studying about. Objectives The aim of the study was to examine two populations of students - medical and non-medical ones in order to compare their level of hypochondriacal behavior and health-related anxiety. Moreover we looked for other factors which might have had an influence on hypochondria and nosophobia among them. Methods The proprietary questionnaire was completed by 606 students (303 medical students of the Medical University of Silesia in Katowice and 293 students of the 3 largest non-medical universities in Katowice). Results The results show that medical students receive same scores on a nosophobia scale as students of non-medical universities (p=0,5). The analysis of hypochondriacal behavior showed significantly higher results in non-medical students group (p=0,02) .The higher medical students were at the stages of academic education, the higher the results of nosophobia they obtained. In the entire study group female received higher score in relation to the fear of illness (p = 0.001). People with mental disorders achieve significantly higher results of nosophobia (p <0.001 in the entire group) and of hypochondria (p <0.001 for the entire cohort). Conclusions Our study challenges the widespread belief that medical students, compared to their peers, are overly anxious about their own health. Gender and having a mental illness are predictors of hypochondria and nosophobia. Disclosure No significant relationships. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0924933822015292/type/journal_articlenosophobiahypochondriamedical students |
| spellingShingle | K. Szczurek N. Furgał D. Szczepanek K. Krysta M. Krzystanek Should “medical students` disease” be regarded as a true disease entity? Cross-sectional study among Polish students European Psychiatry nosophobia hypochondria medical students |
| title | Should “medical students` disease” be regarded as a true disease entity? Cross-sectional study among Polish students |
| title_full | Should “medical students` disease” be regarded as a true disease entity? Cross-sectional study among Polish students |
| title_fullStr | Should “medical students` disease” be regarded as a true disease entity? Cross-sectional study among Polish students |
| title_full_unstemmed | Should “medical students` disease” be regarded as a true disease entity? Cross-sectional study among Polish students |
| title_short | Should “medical students` disease” be regarded as a true disease entity? Cross-sectional study among Polish students |
| title_sort | should medical students disease be regarded as a true disease entity cross sectional study among polish students |
| topic | nosophobia hypochondria medical students |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0924933822015292/type/journal_article |
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