Evaluation of the knowledge, attitude and practice of traditional and complementary medicine by pharmacy students in Guilan University of Medical Sciences regarding in 2020

Background and Purpose:

Considering traditional and complementary medicine along with conventional medicine is of importance in completing the medical treatment chain, providing appropriate information to the patients by pharmacists, and also assessing the traditional medicine and pharmacy course offered in the school of pharmacy at Guilan University of Medical Sciences (GUMS) since 2017. This study aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitude and practice of traditional and complementary medicine by pharmacy students in GUMS. The results of this study can be helpful for relevant authorities in planning for traditional and complementary medicine education.

This cross-sectional study was performed on 256 students in the Faculty of Pharmacy of GUMS in 2019. The data collection tool included a researcher-made questionnaire with components of knowledge, attitude and practice of traditional and complementary medicine.

As revealed by the results of this study, the mean value of knowledge and attitude of pharmacy students regarding traditional and complementary therapies were 6.56±2.29 and 41.00±4.96, respectively. Also, the knowledge score of students who had passed the traditional medicine and pharmacy course was significantly higher than other students (p<0.001). There was a significant relationship between knowledge and attitude score with some variables such as age, educational course and marital status (p<0.05). The most common complementary medicine modality in this study was medicinal herbs.

The knowledge and attitude of pharmacy students regarding traditional and complementary medicine has been satisfactory. Also, pharmacy students who had passed traditional medicine and pharmacy unit had more desirable knowledge, attitude and practice. Therefore, it is necessary that this course be offered to students of other medical disciplines.