ABSTRACT

This study was conducted to compare the knowledge of aging and rational geriatric pharmacotherapy among Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm) and Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students in Telangana state, India. A multi-school, cross-sectional study was conducted among final year BPharm and PharmD students from 136 institutions between February and June 2017. A 15-item Geriatric Knowledge Assessment Scale (GKAS) was used to assess aging and rational geriatric pharmacotherapy knowledge among 600 pharmacy students. A total of 530 students participated in the survey, with a response rate of 88.3%, and their mean age was 23.5 (0.5 standard deviation) years. Three-fourth (73%) of the participants were PharmD and 27% were BPharm students. Adequate knowledge about aging was identified in only 41.1% of PharmD students and 16.1% of BPharm students. Both PharmD (73.1%) and BPharm (86.7%) demonstrated poor rational geriatric pharmacotherapy knowledge. Male gender [Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR): 2.9, 95% CI (1.46–5.71)], students aged <22 years [AOR: 3.5, (2.08–6.03)] and studying PharmD [AOR: 3.3, (1.87–5.78)] were significantly associated with higher knowledge on aging and geriatric pharmacotherapy. Inadequate knowledge may be due to a lack of geriatric content in the pharmacy curriculum and insufficient training in this area.

摘要

本研究旨在比较印度特伦甘纳邦药学学士 (BPharm) 和药学博士 (PharmD) 学生对衰老和理性老年药物治疗的知识。在 2017 年 2 月至 2017 年 6 月期间，对来自 136 个机构的最后一年的 BPharm 和 PharmD 学生进行了一项多学校、横断面研究。使用 15 项老年知识评估量表 (GKAS) 来评估 600 名老年人的衰老和合理的老年药物治疗知识药学学生。共有530名学生参加了调查，答复率为88.3%，平均年龄为23.5（0.5标准差）岁。四分之三 (73%) 的参与者是 PharmD，27% 是 BPharm 学生。只有 41.1% 的 PharmD 学生和 16.1% 的 BPharm 学生对老龄化有足够的了解。两个药学博士（73。1%) 和 BPharm (86.7%) 表现出缺乏理性的老年药物治疗知识。男性 [调整优势比 (AOR): 2.9, 95% CI (1.46–5.71)], 学生年龄 <22 岁 [AOR: 3.5, (2.08–6.03)] 和攻读药学博士 [AOR: 3.3, (1.87–5.78) )] 与更高的衰老和老年药物治疗知识显着相关。知识不足可能是由于药学课程中缺乏老年病学内容以及该领域的培训不足。