Introduction: Medical students' inappropriate propranolol use, driven by exam stress, is a developing concern. This study examined propranolol misuse among Palestinian medical students at An-Najah National University.

Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study that included second to sixth-year medical students at An-Najah National University in Palestine. An online self-administrated Arabic questionnaire was developed by researchers. This 29-question, three-section questionnaire was sent to eligible participants via university email and student Facebook groups. The data collection period extended from August to September 2023.

Results: A total of 401 students participated in the survey. The majority of the respondents were females (227, 57%) and final-year medical student (137, 34%). The utilization of propranolol was identified in 12% in our study. About 60% engaged in self-prescribing doses ranging between 10-20mg, with 56% falling within this range. The main motivation for self-prescribing was to alleviate anxiety symptoms (88%), particularly before objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) (89%) or presentations (39%). 68% of students expressed awareness of the potential side effects. Statistical analysis revealed significant associations between propranolol use and factors such as age (p<0.001), academic year (p<0.001), the presence of chronic diseases (p=0.011), and psychoactive drug use (p=0.045).

Conclusion: The findings show that 89% of respondents used propranolol before the OSCE despite knowing its harmful effects. This emphasizes the importance of stress management before difficult occasions in medical students' journey.

Keywords: Medical students, Stress, Self-prescribing, Developing country, propranolol.

Title

BMC medical education

Publisher

BMC

Publisher Country

Australia

Indexing

Scopus

Impact Factor

2.8

Publication Type

Online only

Volume

25

Year

2025

Pages

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