The association of anxiety and medical students' performance on the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) Part I Examination was investigated. The Debilitating Anxiety Scale was completed by 62 second-year medical students before taking the NBME Examination. Debilitating test anxiety has been described as anxiety that interferes with test performance. Based on their responses to the scale, the students were categorized as either high, moderate, or low test-anxious. Each group included approximately one-third of the participants. Test anxiety was found to be significantly associated with performance on the NBME Part I Examination. The mean Part I score of the low test-anxious group was significantly higher than that of the high and moderate test anxious groups; however, there was no difference between the latter two groups' scores. The results suggest that there may be varying thresholds related to test anxiety levels. But when the thresholds are reached for students with differing levels of test anxiety, performance differences are likely to be diminished. (Author/SW)

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