Neurophobia among the Egyptian early-career physicians: the first national multi-centre report

Background: There is a shortage of neurologists at a time when brain disorders have become major contributors to disability and death worldwide. This is the first national study of Egyptian early-career physicians, exploring their attitudes towards neurology and neuroscience. Methods: This cross-sectional study took place in September and October 2024 using a structured, self-administered online questionnaire, comprising Likert-scale, multiple-choice and closed-ended questions. We calculated the mean and SD for the score of each speciality in different characteristics (ie, interest, difficulty, confidence and knowledge). The concept of neurophobia was defined as a combined confidence and difficulty score of ≤4 points. Data analysis was done using R Statistical Software (V.4.4.2, R Core Team). Results: Our study included 445 participants, comprising 384 interns (86%), 23 primary care physicians (5.2%) and 38 residents (8.5%). Around 51% of interns and primary care physicians were males, compared with 34% of residents. A total of 205 (50.4%) of the interns and primary care physicians exhibited neurophobia, followed by 197 (48.4%) to cardiology, and 132 (32.4%) to geriatrics. The most common factors for neurophobia were trouble with neuroanatomy (48.9%), lack of curative treatment or poor prognosis (35.6%), too many rare diagnoses (34.2%), poor teaching (25.8%) and trouble with basic neuroscience (22.4%). Interns and primary care physicians showed a moderate likelihood of specialising in neurology with a mean (SD) score of 2.55 (1.09). Conclusions: The current study provided a summary of residents' perspectives toward neurology and neuroscience as well as suggestions to combat neurophobia.