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Pharmacy students' ability to identify potential drug-drug interactions
Kim R Saverno1, Daniel C Malone, John Kurowsky
1University of Arizona College of Pharmacy, USA.
American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education
|June 11, 2009
Summary
Pharmacy students demonstrated a limited ability to identify clinically significant drug-drug interactions (DDIs). Even upon completing experiential training, their knowledge of potential medication interactions requires improvement.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacy Education
- Clinical Pharmacy
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Drug-drug interactions (DDIs) pose a significant risk to patient safety.
- Assessing the knowledge of future pharmacists regarding DDIs is crucial for ensuring safe medication practices.
- Experiential training is a key component of pharmacy curricula, but its impact on DDI identification needs evaluation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the DDI identification capabilities of third- and fourth-year pharmacy students.
- To determine if academic progression and experiential learning correlate with improved DDI knowledge.
Main Methods:
- A questionnaire assessing DDI knowledge was administered to fourth-year pharmacy students.
- Third-year pharmacy students from two different schools received the questionnaire.
- The questionnaire was re-administered to one group of third-year students one year later to assess knowledge retention.
Main Results:
- Fourth-year students (Class of 2005) correctly identified an average of 52% of DDI pairs.
- Third-year students at School A and School B identified 61% and 66% of DDI pairs, respectively.
- Fourth-year students (Class of 2007) showed improvement, correctly identifying 65% of DDI pairs.
Conclusions:
- Pharmacy students' proficiency in identifying clinically significant DDIs is suboptimal.
- Current educational and experiential training may not be sufficient to ensure adequate DDI knowledge.
- Further curriculum enhancement is likely needed to improve students' ability to manage DDIs effectively.
Keywords:
drug interaction
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