THE EVALUATION OF AWARENESS AND LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE RELATED TO TUBERCULOSIS OF PHARMACY FACULTY STUDENTS: A FOUNDATION UNIVERSITY EXAMPLE

Abstract

Objective: Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that is among the leading causes of death. TB can easily spread by aerosols from pulmonary TB patients. Pharmacists are unique among healthcare professionals because patients can easily and directly access them. Therefore, they have to take responsibility for management and early detection of TB. The aim of this study was to evaluate TB related awareness and level of knowledge of pharmacy students in a foundation university. Material and Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of undergraduate pharmacy students about TB. A face-to-face survey was made to students in their classrooms after ethical committee’s approval was received and verbal consent of participants obtained. A total of 238 students answered the survey. Descriptive statistical methods and Pearson Chi-Square test are used for the evaluation of the data. Result and Discussion: We found that all of the students knew tuberculosis, but some of them lacked knowledge on some topics such as the symptoms of the disease, risk factors, definitive diagnosis, and drug resistance rates. Pharmacists who have an important role in public health should be informed and advised to be updated about TB during their undergraduate education. In addition, it should be ensured that they take responsibility to raise public awareness of TB which causes thousands of deaths each year. © 2022 Authors. All rights reserved.