Flaxseed: Knowledge and opinion of first-year pharmacy students

Abstract

The objective of the survey was to evaluate the knowledge and opinion of Howard University College of Pharmacy first-year professional pharmacy students regarding the use of the nutritional supplement flaxseed. The survey questionnaire comprising 5 knowledge-based and 5 opinion-based items was administered to 42 first year pharmacy students. Most of the respondents had adequate knowledge about flaxseed ranging from 52.4 to 90.5%. There was no statistical difference when responses were analyzed based on the gender, age and prior work experience categories of the survey participants. More than half of the respondents had good levels of knowledge and opinion about flaxseed, with the highest being 90.5% to a specific knowledge question on the use of flaxseed for hyperlipidemia, heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes. The respondents were close to being evenly divided on whether flaxseed can increase appetite and feeling comfortable about recommending it for personal use to lower cholesterol before taking prescription medications (42.8 to 57.2 and 47.6 to 52.4%, respectively).