Prevalence of Self-Prescribed Propranolol among Healthcare and Non-Healthcare Students in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study
Author(s): Abdulbary Alhalimi*, Sokinah Almusalami, Fatmah Alaskar, Abdullah AlGhanim and Ali Alsaad
Abstract
Introduction: Few studies have investigated propranolol usage among university students and its relation to the level of performance anxiety. Moreover, it has been shown that performance anxiety level increases among health science students. There is no comparison between healthcare and non-healthcare students regarding self-prescribed propranolol about performance anxiety. This research aims to study the prevalence of self-prescribed propranolol and compares healthcare students with non-healthcare students. Materials & Methods: A cross-sectional study with a sample size of 506 was conducted. The inclusion criteria were King Faisal university students enrolled in the academic year 2020-2021. The Exclusion criteria were any subject taking prescribed propranolol. The data were collected using an electronic questionnaire between 20 September to 18 October 2020. Data were analyzed using SPSS program version 22. The collected data included Beck Anxiety Inventory, gender, nationality, marital status, college, academic level, grade point average, a questionnaire about propranolol usage. Results: 506 King Faisal university students from different colleges completed the questionnaire; 212 (41.9%) were healthcare students, while 294 (58.1%) were non-healthcare students. Only four single females (0.8%) used self-prescribed propranolol, and three of them were healthcare students and one non-healthcare student. According to our study, the academic level has significantly affected the usage of propranolol (p=0.007). However, Beck Anxiety Inventory, gender, nationality, marital status, college, and grade point average were not significant. Conclusion: In this study, the prevalence of propranolol usage is very low among King Faisal university students. Also, a higher academic level is associated with the usage of self-prescribed propranolol.