Introduction

In addition to advising about diets, nutritional deficiencies, and supplements, pharmacists should be confident discussing medicine-related issues that may arise from people adopting veganism, including checking about animal-derived pharmaceutical product excipients, formulation processes, and determining whether vegan-friendly alternatives exist. Thus, this study aimed to investigate pharmacy students' knowledge and views about veganism.

Methods

Given veganism's increasing popularity and relevance to pharmacy practice, students enrolled in their last year of the undergraduate master of pharmacy degree program at Queen's University Belfast participated in this voluntary study. The questionnaire was given out at an obligatory workshop (only non-identifiable data were requested). Students were scored on veganism knowledge (22 true/false statements) with other analysis about views being largely descriptive in nature.

Results

Ninety-two out of 101 (91.1%) completed the questionnaire. Only one reporting being vegan. Mean knowledge score (possible range of 0–22) was 16.59 (±2.43). Only 37% (34/92) reported feeling confident discussing veganism with patients or other healthcare professionals and 40.2% (37/92) deemed they could establish whether a medical product is vegan-friendly. A minority (4.3%) considered they had received adequate training on veganism. A greater proportion of males than females considered that vegans are too forceful with their beliefs (74.2% vs. 51.7%).

Conclusions

This study presents the first description of pharmacy students' knowledge and opinions on veganism (from a single institution only). The reported gap in educational provision and lack of confidence needs to be investigated and addressed to enhance patient-centered care.

中文翻译：

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素食主义：未来的药剂师准备好提供建议了吗？

介绍

除了就饮食、营养缺乏和补充剂提供建议外，药剂师还应该自信地讨论人们采用纯素食主义可能引起的与药物相关的问题，包括检查动物源性药物产品的赋形剂、配方过程，以及确定是否有素食友好的替代品存在。因此，本研究旨在调查药学专业学生对素食主义的认识和看法。

方法

鉴于素食主义的日益流行以及与药学实践的相关性，贝尔法斯特女王大学药学硕士学位课程最后一年就读的学生参加了这项自愿研究。问卷是在强制性研讨会上发出的（仅要求提供不可识别的数据）。学生对素食主义知识（22 条正确/错误陈述）进行评分，其他关于观点的分析在本质上是描述性的。

结果

101 人中有 92 人 (91.1%) 完成了问卷。只有一个报告是素食主义者。平均知识得分（可能的范围为 0-22）为 16.59 (±2.43)。只有 37% (34/92) 表示有信心与患者或其他医疗保健专业人员讨论素食主义，40.2% (37/92) 认为他们可以确定医疗产品是否适合素食主义者。少数人 (4.3%) 认为他们接受了足够的素食主义培训。认为纯素食者对自己的信仰过于执着的男性比例高于女性（74.2% 对 51.7%）。

结论

本研究首次描述了药学学生对素食主义的知识和观点（仅来自单一机构）。需要调查和解决所报告的教育提供差距和缺乏信心，以加强以患者为中心的护理。