Introduction

The Saudi Pharmacists Licensure Examination’s (SPLE) initial results were revealed in February 2020, which showed enormous inconsistency with the passing rates. Hence, we aimed to investigate the predictors of pharmacy graduates’ success rate on the SPLE of a single-college in Saudi Arabia.

Methods

In a cross-sectional study of 2019-graduates, data were collected via-phone interviews and retrieved from the college’s database. Graduates’ data were retrieved from the college’s database, which includes high school grade point average (GPA), General Aptitude Test, Scholastic Achievement Admission Test, preparatory year GPA, pharmacy GPA, and all courses' grades. The data collected via-phone interview includes information that was not recorded in the college’s database, such as date of birth, SPLE score, and the number of SPLE attempts. We only included students who agreed to be interviewed and had attempted the SPLE at least once. We developed a prediction model using correlational analyses and stepwise multiple linear regression to examine graduates’ factors in predicting success on the SPLE.

Results

Out of the 149 graduates, 105 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Around 84% of them passed the SPLE. Correlation analyses showed a significant direct correlation between preparatory year GPA and pharmacy GPA with SPLE scores (r = 0.228, P = 0.0193 and r = 0.533, P < 0.0001, respectively). In addition, the results showed that all of the four SPLE content areas were positively correlated with SPLE scores (P < 0.0001). The stepwise multivariable regression showed that being a male graduate and scoring high-grade points in pharmacology and therapeutics courses were significantly associated with high SPLE scores (P = 0.0053, P = 0.0256, and P = 0.0001, respectively).

Conclusion

This single cross-sectional study found that being a male, pharmacology GPA, and therapeutics GPA were significantly associated with a higher SPLE score. Further studies should focus on the GPA cut off below which we should give remediation to improve SPLE passing rate.

中文翻译：

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毕业生因素与沙特药剂师执照考试成功率之间的关联：一项单机构横断面研究

介绍

沙特药剂师执照考试 (SPLE) 的初步结果于 2020 年 2 月公布，与通过率存在巨大差异。因此，我们旨在调查沙特阿拉伯一所单一学院的药学毕业生在 SPLE 上成功率的预测因素。

方法

在一项针对 2019 年毕业生的横断面研究中，数据是通过电话采访收集的，并从学院的数据库中检索。毕业生的数据是从学院的数据库中检索出来的，其中包括高中平均绩点（GPA）、综合能力测试、学业成绩入学考试、预科 GPA、药学 GPA 和所有课程的成绩。通过电话采访收集的数据包括未记录在学院数据库中的信息，例如出生日期、SPLE 分数和 SPLE 尝试次数。我们只包括同意接受采访并至少尝试过一次 SPLE 的学生。我们使用相关分析和逐步多元线性回归开发了一个预测模型，以检查毕业生在预测 SPLE 成功方面的因素。

结果

在 149 名毕业生中，有 105 人符合入选标准。其中大约 84% 通过了 SPLE。相关分析显示，预科 GPA 和药学 GPA 与 SPLE 分数之间存在显着的直接相关性（分别为r  = 0.228，P  = 0.0193 和r  = 0.533，P  < 0.0001）。此外，结果显示四个SPLE内容领域均与SPLE评分呈正相关（P  <0.0001）。逐步多元回归表明，男性毕业生和药理学和治疗学课程得分高与 SPLE 高分显着相关（P = 0.0053、P  = 0.0256 和P = 0.0001，分别）。

结论

这项单一的横断面研究发现，作为男性，药理学 GPA 和治疗学 GPA 与较高的 SPLE 评分显着相关。进一步的研究应集中在 GPA 截止值以下，我们应该进行补救以提高 SPLE 通过率。