Social Anxiety Disorder among Medical Students at Northern Border University, Saudi Arabia

Background: Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), sometimes known as Social Phobia (SP), is described as the dread of social settings, including those involving interaction with strangers. People dread humiliating themselves in circumstances such as social events, talks and meeting new individuals. Individuals with SP have general anxieties about performing specific tasks, such as speaking in front of people or eating. For students, SP is an overpowering dread of speaking in front of people or making presentations. Objective: To assess the prevalence of SAD among the medical students at Northern Border University, Saudi Arabia. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken. An anonymous, self-administered questionnaire was employed. The questionnaire consisted of two components. The first portion contains sociodemographic characteristics. The 2nd section is the validated Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) questionnaire. Results: A total of 150 students participated in the survey, with a mean age of 22.5±1.6(19-26), more than half males (54%). Of the examined participants, more than half (56%) experienced SP with 21.3, 20 and 14.7% suffering from mild, moderate and severe social phobia, respectively. Conclusion: Our findings revealed a significant prevalence of SAD (56%) among the medical students at Northern Border University, most of them had a mild degree of illness.