A Study on the Assessment of Knowledge and Awareness towards Drug-Food Interactions among Pharmacy Students

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate the knowledge and awareness towards the drug-food interactions among the Indian pharmacy students.
 Materials and Methods: A total of 132 pharmacy students were participated in this study by filling the knowledge and awareness questionnaire. In this study the questionnaire was divided into 2 categories that include the evaluation of knowledge and awareness. The knowledge of study participants were graded into good (8-10) moderate (5-7) and poor (> 4).
 Results: A total of 132 pharmacy students were participated in the study and among the 43 (32.6%) were found to be males and 89 (67.4%) were found to be females. In this study, 43.2% of the study participants were having good knowledge 53.8% of the study participants were having moderate knowledge and the remianing 3% of the study participants were having poor knowledge about drug-food interactions. About 71 (53.3%) of the study participants had the awareness regarding the usage of the hand book on software programme in order to check the drug interactions before taking them. About 130 (98.5%) of the study participants, felt that the doctors and the pharmacists should update their knowledge about the drug interactions.
 Conclusion: Pharmacy students should have enough knowledge in the aspect of drug-food interactions as they are directly or indirectly involving in the pharmaceutical care plan of the patients once they become professionals. They should take the responsibility in creating the awareness regarding the drug-food interactions among the patients and should work efficiently in providing the better patient care.