Awareness and attitude towards online drug information among undergraduate medical students at the Catholic University of health and Allied Sciences, Mwanza, Tanzania
Material type:
TextPublisher number: Wurzburg Road 35, BMC Premises, Post Code: 33102: P. O. Box 1464, Mwanza – Tanzania: Phone: +255 28 298 3384: Fax: +255 28 298 3386: Email: vc@bugando.ac.tz: www.bugando.ac.tzLanguage: English Language: Kiswahili Publication details: Mwanza, Tanzania: Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences [CUHAS – Bugando] : ©2020Description: x; 24 Pages; Includes ReferencesSubject(s): Summary: Abstract:
Background: Drug literature is growing rapidly in size and new information is updated daily. Timely access to online drug information had proven beneficial in selecting appropriate treatment options that result in improved therapeutic outcomes, giving information about drug interactions and side effects to reduce medication errors. Health professional plays a significant role by providing counseling and correct information on the medication to the patients hence facilitates better health care, therefore they are required to develop drug information skills which is going to be vital for their field.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate medical students of Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences from June to July 2020 to assess awareness and practice towards online drug information. Data were collected using structured questionnaires and entry was done by using Epicollect5 then transferred to SPSS version 20 software for analysis. Descriptive statistics including frequencies and percentage were used to summarize the data.
Results/Discussion: In total 349 students participated in the study, 183 were male and 166 were female. The majority of the students used internet and books as their source of information by percent (41) and (22.3) and others used drug leaflets by 6% most of the students (72%) were aware of the online drug information databases and leaving (28%) not aware.
Conclusion: The study’s finding showed that majority of the students were aware of the updated drug information that can be accessed through different sites and Wikipedia was the most used site. Also, the students practice towards the use of online drug information was affected by several factors hence lowering this frequency of use.
Recommendations: There is a need for students to be given education on the importance to develop information searching skills especially updated information from sites that provide most liable information. But also the University of CUHAS to start a program that will expose students with online databases that are available at the library and how to use them to their full potential.
| Item type | Current library | Collection | Status | Barcode | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNDERGRADUATE DISSERTATIONS | MWALIMU NYERERE LEARNING RESOURCES CENTRE-CUHAS BUGANDO | NFIC | 1 | UD1805 |
Abstract:
Background: Drug literature is growing rapidly in size and new information is updated daily. Timely access to online drug information had proven beneficial in selecting appropriate treatment options that result in improved therapeutic outcomes, giving information about drug interactions and side effects to reduce medication errors. Health professional plays a significant role by providing counseling and correct information on the medication to the patients hence facilitates better health care, therefore they are required to develop drug information skills which is going to be vital for their field.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate medical students of Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences from June to July 2020 to assess awareness and practice towards online drug information. Data were collected using structured questionnaires and entry was done by using Epicollect5 then transferred to SPSS version 20 software for analysis. Descriptive statistics including frequencies and percentage were used to summarize the data.
Results/Discussion: In total 349 students participated in the study, 183 were male and 166 were female. The majority of the students used internet and books as their source of information by percent (41) and (22.3) and others used drug leaflets by 6% most of the students (72%) were aware of the online drug information databases and leaving (28%) not aware.
Conclusion: The study’s finding showed that majority of the students were aware of the updated drug information that can be accessed through different sites and Wikipedia was the most used site. Also, the students practice towards the use of online drug information was affected by several factors hence lowering this frequency of use.
Recommendations: There is a need for students to be given education on the importance to develop information searching skills especially updated information from sites that provide most liable information. But also the University of CUHAS to start a program that will expose students with online databases that are available at the library and how to use them to their full potential.
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