Neurophobia among students and interns at the Abidjan Faculty of Medicine (Côte d'Ivoire)

Abstract

Introduction

As defined by Jozefowicz in 1994, neurophobia is the fear of neuroscience and clinical neurology. We carried out this study, the first on neurophobia in the Ivory Coast, in order to assess its prevalence among medical students and interns in the Ivorian environment, to identify the factors involved and to propose solutions.

Methodology

This was a prospective cross-sectional study carried out during the 2022–2023 academic year at the Abidjan UFR of Medical Sciences. The study population consisted of all students in years 3^ème to 6^ème and hospital interns. The Schon questionnaire, transcribed using google form software, was sent to students using the “wathsapp” social network.

Result

We obtained 284 responses, i.e. 23 % of all respondents (n = 1228). The sex ratio was 1.65 in favour of men. The subjects considered that they had a level of competence in neurology higher than 6 of the nine specialities selected. These were nephrology, cardiology, rheumatology, endocrinology, psychiatry and geriatrics. Neurology was considered more difficult than cardiology, endocrinology, psychiatry and geriatrics. Subjects' level of knowledge in neurology was rated higher than in nephrology, cardiology, rheumatology, endocrinology, psychiatry and geriatrics. The subjects' level of interest in neurology was higher than in the other specialities. 27.46 % of subjects surveyed were neurophobic.

Conclusion

The impact of neurophobia remains harmful to public health, as it is a factor in the sub-optimal management of patients with neurological disorders.