Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Knowledge, attitude and opinion of drug misuse and abuse by pharmacy students: a cross-sectional study in Jordan

Deema Jaber, Nailya Bulatova, Maysa Suyagh, Al-Motassem Yousef, Mayyada Wazaify

Department of Biopharmaceutics and Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan;

For correspondence:- Mayyada Wazaify Email: m.wazaify@ju.edu.jo Tel:+962795494923

Received: 18 April 2015 Accepted: 9 July 2015 Published: 30 August 2015

Citation: Jaber D, Bulatova N, Suyagh M, Yousef A, Wazaify M. Knowledge, attitude and opinion of drug misuse and abuse by pharmacy students: a cross-sectional study in Jordan. Trop J Pharm Res 2015; 14(8):1501-1508 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v14i8.25

© 2015 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To assess the knowledge, attitude and opinion of final-year undergraduate and postgraduate pharmacy students regarding inappropriate drug use in a university campus, Amman, Jordan.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey using a self-completed validated anonymous questionnaire that consisted of two parts was adopted. The first part of the questionnaire pertained to respondents’ demographic details, education level and any experience they might have had with drug misuse or abuse. The second part described students' knowledge, attitude and practice regarding the identification, prevention and management of drug misuse and abuse.

Results: A total number of 198 pharmacy students filled the questionnaire (N = 131 undergraduate, and N = 67 postgraduate students). A majority of the students strongly agreed/agreed that all pharmacy staff must be trained on recognizing drug abusers (92.0 %), informed of the kinds of drugs abused in the local area of the pharmacy (93.4 %) and trained on methods of dealing with drug abusers (92.6 %).

Conclusion: There is a need to implement a well-structured training on the identification, prevention and management of prescription and OTC drug misuse and abuse in undergraduate pharmacy curricula in Jordan. Modules should be updated regularly and tailored to meet the needs of pharmacy practice.

Keywords: Drug abuse and misuse, Knowledge, Attitude, Pharmacy curriculum