KAP among doctors working in hospitals, regarding halal pharmaceuticals; a cross sectional assessment

There is a growing awareness amongst Muslims to avoid all items containing non-Halal ingredients. This sentiment has now progressed into the field of various medications. It therefore, required a study to assess the knowledge, attitude and perception (KAP) relating to pharmaceuticals containing non-Halal ingredients among doctors working in various hospitals of Malaysia. This was a cross sectional study, carried out in January 2013-February 2013 period, using a structured, self-administered questionnaires. Study settings included various government hospitals in Malaysia. Data were collected by distributing questionnaires through respective heads of the departments. Study was conducted on a sample of 243 participants. Inclusion criterion was a registered medical doctor working in a government hospital. Descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, frequency, percentage, median, inter quartile range) was applied to summarize the data, non-parametric tests were applied. χ2 Test and Fisher's Exact Test were applied to assess the association between demographic characteristics and knowledge, attitude and perception scores. Results revealed that the hospital doctors had a good and positive attitude and perception about Halal pharmaceuticals. Mean knowledge score out of maximum possible 9 score was 7.67 ± 1.68. Mean attitude score out of maximum possible 45 score was 34.10 ± 5.35 while mean perception score out of maximum possible 55 score was 45.73 ± 5.44. Mean overall KAP score out of maximum possible 109 was 87.60 ± 10.37. There was a significant, positive and weak correlation (0.20-0.29) between knowledge and attitude (r = 0.231, p < 0.001) as well as between knowledge and perception (r = 0.209, p = 0.001) while there was good correlation (0.5-0.75) between attitude and perception (r = 0.588, p < 0.001). It is concluded from the results that the better knowledge the respondents have on Halal pharmaceuticals the better is their perception and attitude towards Halal pharmaceuticals.