Volume 24, Issue 106, November - December, 2020

Evaluation of knowledge, attitude and practices of university students towards rational use of medicines

Musarrat Rauf Burki¹, Sadia Shakeel², Saira Hayat³, Amer Hayat Khan², Muhammad Shahid Iqbal^4♦, Jiyauddin Khan⁵

¹Department of Dentistry, Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad, Pakistan
²School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia
³Department of Pharmacy, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, Pakistan
⁴Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Al-kharj, 11942, Saudi Arabia
⁵School of Pharmacy, Management & Science University, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

^♦Corresponding author
Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Al-kharj, 11942, Saudi Arabia; Email: m.javed@psau.edu.sa

ABSTRACT

Background: Rational use of medicines (RUM) requires that individuals get the correct medication, in the accurate dose, for an adequate period and at the lowest cost. Irrational drug use has a negative impact both on health and the economy. Hence, this study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice for the rational use of medicine among university students in a public university in Malaysia. Methods: The cross-sectional descriptive study was piloted using a validated self-administered questionnaire to collect the needed data from students. All data were checked for completeness and accuracy and then coded for analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to present the data on demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitudes, and practice towards RUM. The influence of demographic characteristics on knowledge and attitude was tested using Fishers exact tests or Chi-square, Mann-Whitney test and Kruskal-Wallis test wherever appropriate considering a p value <0.05 as statistically significant. Results: Overall, 418 questionnaires were distributed to university students. The results of the study revealed that 54.9% of the students had a moderate; 38.2% had poor and only 6.9% had a good level of knowledge towards RUM. A high percentage (64.4%) knew that all medicines have side effects; however, (66.4%) thought that multivitamins are safe without any side effect. Half of the respondents could not differentiate a medicine by either its generic or brand name. Most of the respondents (77.9%) incorrectly stop taking medicines when they feel better. Respondents (67.9%) purchased medications only upon physicians' prescriptions. Conclusion: The outcomes revealed gaps in terms of knowledge, attitude and practice regarding the RUM among students. Educational strategies should target these gaps aiming at increasing awareness on RUM. Training on the proper use of medicines and reducing the practice of self-medication should be a part of the curriculum to enable informed decision-making at the individual, family, and community levels.

Keywords: Rational use of medicines; RUM, knowledge; attitude; practice; students; Malaysia

Medical Science, 2020, 24(106), 4425-4437

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