OBJECTIVE: To compare the knowledge, attitude and practice of Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm) and Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students about usage and resistance of antibiotics in Southern India.
METHODS: This was a cross sectional study involving final year BPharm and PharmD students studying in two private institutions located in Andra Pradesh, India. The study was conducted for the period of 3 months. The questionnaire was divided into 5 components: demographics, knowledge about antibiotic use, attitude towards antibiotic use and resistance, self-antibiotic usage, and possible causes of antibiotic resistance. The study questionnaire was assessed for reliability. Data were analysed by employing Mann Whitney and chi square tests using SPSS version 19.
RESULTS: The sample size comprised of 137 students. The response rate was 76.11% for the study. There was a significant difference in the knowledge of antibiotic use in BPharm and PharmD students (Mean score: 5.09 vs 6.18, p<0.001). The overall attitude of PharmD students about antibiotic use and resistance was positive compared to BPharm students (Mean score: 3.05 vs 2.23, p<0.05). The self-antibiotic practices was higher in BPharm students than PharmD students (36.4% vs 20%, p<0.05). A significantly high number of PharmD students believed that empirical antibiotic therapy led to antibiotic resistance (19.5% versus 48%, P<0.05).
CONCLUSION: PharmD students were more knowledgeable about antibiotic usage and resistance compared to BPharm students who did not have accurate and the much needed information about the same. Future interventions should be targeted towards educating the BPharm students so that they can implement the acquired knowledge in their practice.
METHODS: A systematic review was performed through Pubmed, Scopus, Embase and Google Scholar scientific databases. Studies pertaining to KAP of PV and ADR reporting by Indian health professionals between January 2011 and July 2015 were included in a meta-analysis.
RESULTS: A total of 28 studies were included in the systematic review and 18 of them were selected for meta-analysis. Overall, 55.6% (95% CI 44.4-66.9; p<0.001) of the population studied were not aware of the existence of the Pharmacovigilance Programme in India (PvPI), and 31.9% (95% CI 16.3-47.4; p<0.001) thought that "all drugs available in the market are safe". Furthermore, 28.7% (95% CI 16.4-40.9; p<0.001) of them were not interested in reporting ADRs and 74.5%, (95% CI 67.9-81.9; p<0.001) never reported any ADR to PV centers.
CONCLUSION: There was an enormous gap of KAP towards PV and ADR reporting, particularly PV practice in India. There is therefore an urgent need for educational awareness, simplification of the ADR reporting process, and implementation of imperative measures to practice PV among healthcare professionals. In order to understand the PV status, PvPI should procedurally assess the KAP of health professionals PV activities in India.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study design was conducted to assess the level of knowledge on osteoporosis and to explore the potential association between the study program and osteoporosis-related knowledge among medicine, pharmacy, and allied health sciences students in a Malaysian University. A total of 348 students were approached. The data were collected using validated revised Osteoporosis Knowledge Test questionnaire.
RESULTS: The results showed variability in knowledge score between students belonging to different study programs. allied health sciences students have the highest overall total score (median = 20) and nutrition score (median = 16), but for exercise score, both students in allied health sciences and medicine programs shared a similar median score (median = 11.5). More than half of the respondents showed adequate knowledge on osteoporosis. The students from allied health sciences exhibited more knowledge on osteoporosis compared to students in other study programs. Among the Kulliyyah of Pharmacy respondents, the majority did not manage to answer correctly on the whole scale. This was evident by total percentage of 69.91% of the respondents scored below than median score.
CONCLUSION: There is a considerable gap of knowledge regarding osteoporosis among students in various health occupations academic programs. Pharmacy students particularly need focused learning related to exercise and nutrition in preventing osteoporosis during their academic program.