Neurophobia and its Correlates among Undergraduate Clinical Students in a Nigerian Private University https://doi.org/10.60787/NMJ-64-2-201
Main Article Content
Keywords
Neurophobia, neurology, clinical students, medical education
Abstract
Background: The fear of neurology and neurosciences has been referred to as neurophobia. Neurophobia is a global phenomenon, that is worse in sub-Saharan Africa due to its impact on the already established huge gap in the neurologist-to-population ratio. The need to identify modifiable factors that could curb neurophobia stirred the current study, which aimed to determine the correlates of neurophobia among undergraduate clinical students.
Methodology: A cross-sectional design was adopted involving 173 undergraduate clinical students selected via stratified sampling. Content validated, self-administered questionnaire was utilized to obtain data on the perception of neurology, neurophobia, and demographic/academic-related characteristics. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed at the 0.05 significant level.
Results: The mean age (±SD) of the participants was 25.8(±2.2) years with a male-to-female ratio of 1:1.2. More than half of the undergraduate clinical students perceived neurology as being badly taught (77.5%), difficult to learn (83.2%), and with complex clinical examination (85.5%). The prevalence of neurophobia was 76.3% (n=132). The significant correlate of neurophobia was perceived poor knowledge of neurology. Students with poor perceived knowledge of neurology were about two times more likely to have neurophobia than those with perceived good knowledge (AOR=2.14; 95%CI: 1.04-4.41).
Conclusion: Approximately 8 in 10 undergraduate clinical students in Nigeria have neurophobia and the significant determining factor is their perceived poor knowledge. The need to adopt educational models that would strengthen academic prowess in neurology is strongly advocated as most of the students felt that the course was being badly taught.
References
2. Jozefowicz RF. Neurophobia: the fear of neurology among medicalstudents. Arch Neurol. 1994; 51:328–9.
3. Silberberg D, Katabira E. Neurological Disorders. Disease Mortality Sub-Saharan Africa. International Bank Reconstruction and Development World Bank, 2006 p.2295. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2295/[cited 2022 Jul 4];
4. World Health Organization (WHO). Neurological Disorders: Public Health Challenges. Geneva, Switzerland. 2006 p. 1–209. Available from: https://books.google.com.ng/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Z8uwPwlPUw4C&oi=fnd&pg=PR1&dq=NEUROLOGICAL+DISORDERS+public+health+challenges&ots=ghqGw60wXl&sig=g6RW1BDnfhgcN3QTmfwblFJTEtA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS public health challenges&f=false [cited 2022 Jul 4].
5. European Federation of Neurological Societies. The Education Committee of EFNS: activities and work in progress. Eur J Neurol. 2003;10:205–211.
6. Béjot Y. Neurological disorders and age: The demographic transition.J Neurol Sci. 2021;429:118028.
7. Zinchuk AV, Flanagan EP, Tubridy NJ, Miller WA, Mccullough LD. Attitudes of US medical trainees towards neurology education: “Neurophobia” -A global issue. BMC Med Educ. 2010;10:1–7.
8. Schon F, Hart P, Fernandez C. Is clinical neurology really so difficult? J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2002;72:557–9.
9. Sanya EO, Ayodele OE, Olanrewaju TO. Interest in neurology during medical clerkship in three Nigerian medical schools. BMC Med Educ. 2010;10:42.
10. Bergen DC. Training and distribution of neurologists worldwide. J Neurol Sci. 2002 Jun 15;198:3–7.
11. Aarli JA, Diop AG, Lochmüller H. Neurology in sub-Saharan Africa: a challenge for World Federation of Neurology. Neurol. 2007;69:1715–8.
12. Kirkwood BR Sterne JAC. Calculation of required sampe size. Essentials Medical Statistics 2nd Ed. UK Blackwell Science. 2003;p.420-1.
13. Fantaneanu TA, Moreau K, Eady K, Clarkin C, DeMeulemeester C, Maclean H, et al. Neurophobia inception: a study of trainees’ perceptions of neurology education. Can J Neurol Sci. 2014;41:421–9.
14. Anwar K, Shaikh AA, Sajid MR, Cahusac P, Alarifi NA, Al Shedoukhy A. Tackling student neurophobia in neurosciences block with team-based learning. Med Educ Online. 2015;20:28461.
15. Shelley BP, Chacko TV, Nair BR. Preventing “neurophobia”: Remodeling neurology education for 21st-century medical students through effective pedagogical strategies for “neurophilia.” Ann Indian Acad Neurol. 2018;21:9.
16. Bosman FT, Arends JW. Teaching pathology in a problem‐oriented curriculum: The Maastricht experience. J Pathol. 1989;159:175–8.
17. Parmelee D, Michaelsen LK, Cook S, Hudes PD. Team-based learning: A practical guide: AMEE Guide No. 65. Med Teach. 2012 May;34:e275–87.
Article Sidebar
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
This is an open-access journal and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike License 4.0. This licence allows users to download and share, remix, tweak and build upon the article for non-commercial purposes, so long as the original authorship is acknowledged and the new creations are licensed under identical terms.