Illness Anxiety Disorder and Distress among Female Medical and Nursing Students

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to compare the prevalence of illness anxiety disorder (IAD) and distress between medical and nursing students and examine their associations with students' characteristics. Methods: Cross-sectional data were collected using the Short Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI, for measuring IAD) and the Medical Students' Disease (MSD) Perception and Distress Scales. Results: Two hundred and sixteen Medical students and 250 Nursing students were recruited from a public female university in Saudi Arabia. Their mean age was 21.27 years. The findings showed that the overall prevalence of IAD (SHAI scores ≥18) among the total sample was 38.8%, with a significantly lower prevalence in medical students compared to the prevalence in nursing students (57.2% vs 17.6%, respectively, X 2 =45.26, p