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Saudi Board Part One Examination – Psychiatry: free practice test

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Practice test questions with answers and explanations

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01Which defence mechanism involves attributing one's unacceptable impulses to others?

Practice question Unit: Basic Sciences / Essential Topics in Psychiatry

  1. ADisplacement

    Displacement redirects feelings toward a less threatening target.

  2. BReaction formation

    Reaction formation expresses the opposite of an unacceptable impulse.

  3. CSublimation

    Sublimation channels impulses into socially acceptable activities.

  4. DProjection ✓ Correct answer

    Projection attributes unacceptable personal impulses to somebody else.

Reference: SCFHS Saudi Board Part One Blueprint – Psychiatry (2024–27), section: Basic Sciences / Essential Topics in Psychiatry; Kaplan & Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry, 12th ed., chapter: Theories of Personality and Psychopathology

02Which antidepressant is most associated with QTc prolongation at higher doses?

Practice question Unit: Therapeutic Interventions

  1. ASertraline

    Sertraline has a lower characteristic dose-related QT concern than citalopram.

  2. BCitalopram ✓ Correct answer

    Citalopram has a recognised dose-dependent QT-prolonging effect.

  3. CBupropion

    Bupropion is not the typical dose-dependent QT culprit here.

  4. DMirtazapine

    Mirtazapine is not the characteristic answer among these agents.

Reference: SCFHS Saudi Board Part One Blueprint – Psychiatry (2024–27), section: Therapeutic Interventions; The Maudsley Prescribing Guidelines in Psychiatry, 14th ed., section: QT prolongation

03Which first-generation antipsychotic is low-potency with high anticholinergic effects?

Practice question Unit: Schizophrenia Spectrum & other Psychotic Disorders

  1. AFluphenazine

    Fluphenazine is a high-potency first-generation antipsychotic.

  2. BHaloperidol

    Haloperidol is high-potency and has less prominent anticholinergic activity.

  3. CChlorpromazine ✓ Correct answer

    Chlorpromazine is low-potency, with prominent anticholinergic and sedative effects.

  4. DPimozide

    Pimozide is a high-potency agent rather than the low-potency example.

Reference: SCFHS Saudi Board Part One Blueprint – Psychiatry (2024–27), section: Schizophrenia Spectrum & other Psychotic Disorders; Stahl's Essential Psychopharmacology, 5th ed., chapter: Antipsychotic Agents

04A 30-year-old with depression has hypersomnia, hyperphagia, leaden paralysis and mood reactivity. Specifier?

Practice question Unit: Depressive Disorders / Bipolar & related Disorders

  1. ACatatonic features

    Catatonia involves characteristic psychomotor signs, not this symptom cluster.

  2. BSeasonal pattern

    A seasonal pattern needs a recurring temporal relationship to seasons.

  3. CAtypical features ✓ Correct answer

    Mood reactivity with increased sleep, appetite and leaden paralysis supports atypical features.

  4. DMelancholic features

    Melancholia typically features loss of reactivity, early waking and reduced appetite.

Reference: SCFHS Saudi Board Part One Blueprint – Psychiatry (2024–27), section: Depressive Disorders / Bipolar & related Disorders; American Psychiatric Association, DSM-5-TR, 2022, chapter: Depressive Disorders

05Childhood-onset conduct disorder defined as at least one symptom before age:

Practice question Unit: Anxiety / OCD-related / Impulse-Control and Conduct Disorders

  1. A15 years

    Fifteen is not the childhood-onset cut-off for conduct disorder.

  2. B10 years ✓ Correct answer

    Childhood onset requires at least one conduct-disorder symptom before age ten.

  3. C5 years

    The definition does not require onset before age five.

  4. D18 years

    Eighteen relates to adult diagnostic considerations, not this onset specifier.

Reference: SCFHS Saudi Board Part One Blueprint – Psychiatry (2024–27), section: Anxiety / OCD-related / Impulse-Control and Conduct Disorders; American Psychiatric Association, DSM-5-TR, 2022, chapter: Disruptive, Impulse-Control, and Conduct Disorders

06Which personality disorder is in cluster A?

Practice question Unit: Personality / Trauma and Stress-related / Dissociative Disorders

  1. ABorderline

    Borderline personality disorder belongs to cluster B.

  2. BAvoidant

    Avoidant personality disorder belongs to cluster C.

  3. CHistrionic

    Histrionic personality disorder belongs to cluster B.

  4. DSchizotypal ✓ Correct answer

    Schizotypal personality disorder belongs to cluster A.

Reference: SCFHS Saudi Board Part One Blueprint – Psychiatry (2024–27), section: Personality / Trauma and Stress-related / Dissociative Disorders; DSM-5-TR (APA 2022), section: Personality Disorders

07Right-sided infective endocarditis in people who inject drugs most commonly affects:

Practice question Unit: Substance-related and Addictive Disorders

  1. AMitral valve

    The mitral valve is left-sided, not the predominant right-sided site.

  2. BTricuspid valve ✓ Correct answer

    The tricuspid valve is the characteristic right-sided site in injection-associated endocarditis.

  3. CAortic valve

    The aortic valve is also on the left side.

  4. DPulmonary valve

    Pulmonary-valve endocarditis occurs but is much less common than tricuspid involvement.

Reference: SCFHS Saudi Board Part One Blueprint – Psychiatry (2024–27), section: Substance-related and Addictive Disorders; Baddour LM et al., AHA Scientific Statement, Circulation 2015

08Rapidly progressive dementia with myoclonus and periodic sharp-wave EEG:

Practice question Unit: Psychosomatic Medicine (C-L Psychiatry) / Geriatric Psychiatry

  1. ASporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease ✓ Correct answer

    Rapid dementia, myoclonus and periodic sharp waves suggest sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease.

  2. BNormal pressure hydrocephalus

    Normal-pressure hydrocephalus typically combines gait, urinary and cognitive problems, not this EEG pattern.

  3. CAlzheimer

    Typical Alzheimer disease progresses more gradually and lacks this characteristic myoclonic/EEG pattern.

  4. DVascular

    Vascular dementia more often has vascular events, focal deficits or stepwise decline.

Reference: SCFHS Saudi Board Part One Blueprint – Psychiatry (2024–27), section: Psychosomatic Medicine (C-L Psychiatry) / Geriatric Psychiatry; Lishman's Organic Psychiatry, 4th ed., chapter: Prion Diseases

09According to NICE NG225, how should risk scales be used to predict suicide or determine care after self-harm?

Practice question Unit: Emergency Psychiatry

  1. AUse a low score to decide discharge

    A low scale score should not decide discharge after self-harm.

  2. BUse scores to allocate all follow-up care

    Care should follow individual needs and safety assessment, not a numerical allocation rule.

  3. CReplace psychosocial assessment with a validated score

    A risk scale does not replace a collaborative psychosocial assessment.

  4. DDo not use them to predict suicide or allocate care ✓ Correct answer

    NICE advises against using scales to predict suicide or decide who receives treatment or is discharged.

Reference: NICE NG225, Self-harm, recommendations 1.6.1–1.6.6: risk assessment tools and scales; https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng225/chapter/recommendations

10A false perception without an external stimulus is a:

Practice question Unit: Patient Evaluation / Descriptive Psychopathology

  1. AHallucination ✓ Correct answer

    A hallucination is a perception without a corresponding external stimulus.

  2. BObsession

    An obsession is an intrusive thought, image or urge.

  3. CIllusion

    An illusion misinterprets a real external stimulus.

  4. DDelusion

    A delusion is a fixed false belief, not a perception.

Reference: SCFHS Saudi Board Part One Blueprint – Psychiatry (2024–27), section: Patient Evaluation / Descriptive Psychopathology; Sims' Symptoms in the Mind, 6th ed., chapter: Disordered Perception

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