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Al-Suhail H, Omar M, Rubaeih M, Mubarak T, Koufaki MI, Kanaris I, Mounaged F, Patrinos GP, Saber-Ayad M. Do future healthcare professionals advocate for pharmacogenomics? A study on medical and health sciences undergraduate students. Front Pharmacol 2024; 15:1377420. [PMID: 38666022 PMCID: PMC11043592 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1377420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2024] [Accepted: 03/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Pharmacogenomics (PGx) is a rapidly changing field of genomics in which healthcare professionals play an important role in its implementation in the clinical setting, however PGx level of adoption remains low. This study aims to investigate the attitude, self-confidence, level of knowledge, and their impact on health sciences undergraduate students' intentions to adopt PGx in clinical practice using a questionnaire developed based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). A model was proposed and a questionnaire was developed that was distributed to 467 undergraduate students of all academic years from four different departments of the University of Sharjah (UoS) including medical, dental, nursing, and pharmacy students from September 2022 to November 2022. Descriptive statistics along with factor analysis and regression analysis were conducted. The proposed model had a good internal consistency and fit. Attitude was the factor with the greatest impact on student's intentions followed by self-confidence and barriers. The level of knowledge had a meaningless impact. The majority of students shared a positive attitude and were aware of PGx benefits. Almost 60% of the respondents showed a high level of knowledge, while 50% of them were confident of implementing PGx in their clinical practice. Many students were prone to adopt PGx in their future careers. PGx testing cost and the lack of reimbursement were the most important barriers. Overall, students shared a positive intention and were prone to adopt PGx. In the future, it would be important to investigate the differences between gender, year of studies, and area of studies studies and their impact on students' intentions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanan Al-Suhail
- College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
| | - Mohammad Omar
- College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
| | - Majd Rubaeih
- College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
| | - Tamer Mubarak
- College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
| | - Margarita-Ioanna Koufaki
- Department of Pharmacy, Laboratory of Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy, School of Health Sciences, University of Patras, Patras, Greece
| | - Ioannis Kanaris
- Department of Pharmacy, Laboratory of Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy, School of Health Sciences, University of Patras, Patras, Greece
| | - Favio Mounaged
- Department of Pharmacy, Laboratory of Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy, School of Health Sciences, University of Patras, Patras, Greece
| | - George P. Patrinos
- Department of Pharmacy, Laboratory of Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy, School of Health Sciences, University of Patras, Patras, Greece
- United Arab Emirates University, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Genetics and Genomics, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- United Arab Emirates University, Zayed Center for Health Sciences, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Erasmus University Medical Center, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Pathology, Clinical Bioinformatics Unit, Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | - Maha Saber-Ayad
- College of Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
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Abanmy NO, Alghamdi SA, Aljudaie RK, Almohammed OA. Clinical pharmacists' knowledge, attitude, perception, and beliefs about the role of pharmacogenetic testing for genes polymorphisms when prescribing mercaptopurine. Saudi Pharm J 2024; 32:102022. [PMID: 38497085 PMCID: PMC10940172 DOI: 10.1016/j.jsps.2024.102022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Single nucleotide polymorphisms in the gene encoding proteins involved in mercaptopurine metabolism can influence drug efficacy and safety. This study aims to assess clinical pharmacists' knowledge about mercaptopurine-related genes and their polymorphisms and investigate their attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs about the need for and importance of pharmacogenetic testing for mercaptopurine. Methods A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among oncology/hematology clinical pharmacists in Saudi Arabia using an online-questionnaire developed by experts in the field. The questionnaire consists of four-sections exploring clinical pharmacists' knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs about the importance of gene testing and genes polymorphism when prescribing mercaptopurine. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data in the study. Results A total of 41 oncology/hematology clinical pharmacists responded to the survey invitation. Almost half of them had more than 10 years of work experience, but only 17 % of them received formal training in pharmacogenetics. The overall level of knowledge about pharmacogenetics among participants was low, with a mean score of 2.8 points (1.7) out of 8 items. However, around 76 % agreed that it is important to perform pharmacogenetic screening prior to prescribing mercaptopurine, and almost 93 % state that it will influence their dosage recommendation. Most of the participants had a good perception (95.1 %) of their role in genetic testing for medication selection, dosing, and monitoring; however, about 10 % of surveyed pharmacists reported not being completely responsible about recommending pharmacogenetic testing. The surveyed pharmacists had a good belief in the importance of pharmacogenetic testing and their overall attitude was positive toward the use of pharmacogenetic testing, with emphasis on the importance of training on the proper assessment and interpretation of pharmacogenetic tests. Conclusions Pharmacists demonstrated good perception and positive attitude toward pharmacogenetic testing, despite the low level of knowledge and limited formal training. Thus, more attention to developing national guidelines on pharmacogenetic testing is warranted to ensure successful pharmacogenetic testing implementation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Norah O. Abanmy
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Sara A. Alghamdi
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Raneem K. Aljudaie
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Omar A. Almohammed
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- Pharmacoeconomics Research Unit, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
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Soueid R, Michael TJF, Cairns R, Charles KA, Stocker SL. A Scoping Review of Pharmacogenomic Educational Interventions to Improve Knowledge and Confidence. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL EDUCATION 2024; 88:100668. [PMID: 38331197 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajpe.2024.100668] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2023] [Revised: 01/31/2024] [Accepted: 02/02/2024] [Indexed: 02/10/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Poor knowledge and confidence in pharmacogenomics are key barriers to implementation. Education of future health care professionals is required to enhance appropriate use of pharmacogenomics; however, the optimal education approach is unclear. This systematic scoping review evaluates pharmacogenomic educational interventions to improve knowledge and confidence. FINDINGS A total of 24 studies were included. Most (90%) studies delivered pharmacogenomic education to pharmacy students and consisted of didactic lectures and workshops with case studies. To supplement case studies, self or class aggregated (52%, 12 of 23), mock (43%, 10 of 23) or faculty member provided (4%, 1 of 23) pharmacogenomic data were used in the case scenarios. All studies used quantitative methods, including student assessments and scaled surveys to assess the impact of the educational intervention on knowledge and/or confidence in pharmacogenomics. On average, the educational interventions improved knowledge acquisition by 21%, confidence in pharmacogenomic data interpretation by 37%, confidence in communication of pharmacogenomic information to patients by 41% and to health care professionals by 44%. Improvement in communication with other health care professionals was greater in students involved in interprofessional learning compared to self-pharmacogenomic testing. SUMMARY The measures used to determine the effect of educational interventions on student knowledge and confidence varied. Innovative pedagogy, specifically interactive case-based learning and simulation such as interprofessional learning, enhances the knowledge and confidence of students in pharmacogenomics. Course-embedded self-pharmacogenomic testing may offer a supplementary, interactive component to case-based learning by using real-life reports as the foundation of knowledge and confidence acquisition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruby Soueid
- School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
| | - Toni J F Michael
- School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
| | - Rose Cairns
- School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
| | - Kellie A Charles
- School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
| | - Sophie L Stocker
- School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia; School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Healthy, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia; Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
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Ramadan A, Jarab AS, Al Meslamani AZ. Investigation of community pharmacists' knowledge and attitudes of pharmacogenomics testing: implication for improved pharmacogenomic testing practice. Hum Genomics 2024; 18:8. [PMID: 38291455 PMCID: PMC10825993 DOI: 10.1186/s40246-024-00574-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2023] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 02/01/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Community pharmacists must be well-equipped to advance pharmacogenomics services. Nevertheless, limited data is available regarding pharmacists' knowledge and attitudes toward pharmacogenomics testing. The present study aimed to evaluate community pharmacists' knowledge and attitudes toward pharmacogenomics testing in the UAE. METHODS In this cross-sectional study, a validated, online, self-administered survey, was randomly distributed to community pharmacists across the United Arab Emirates (UAE). RESULTS The participants demonstrated poor knowledge about pharmacogenomic testing (median score < 8). Having 10-29 (Adjusted odds ration [AOR]: 0.038; 95% CI: 0.01-0.146, p = 0.001) and 30-49 (AOR: 0.097; 95% CI: 0.04-0.237, p = 0.001) patients per day was associated with poorer knowledge. Also, receiving 10-29 (AOR: 0.046; 95% CI: 0.005-0.401, p = 0.005), 30-49 (AOR: 0.025; 95% CI: 0.003-0.211, p = 0.001), and > 50 (AOR: 0.049; 95% CI: 0.005-0.458, p = 0.008) prescriptions decreased the odds of having good knowledge. Around half (43.9%) of the participants did not show a positive attitude toward pharmacogenomic testing (median score < 11). Having 30-49 patients per day (AOR: 5.351; 95% CI: 2.414-11.860, p = 0.001) increased the odds of good knowledge while receiving 10-29 (AOR: 0.133; 95% CI: 0.056-0.315, p = 0.001) and 30-49 (AOR: 0.111; 95% CI: 0.049-0.252, p = 0.001) prescriptions a day were associated with decreased odds of positive attitude toward the pharmacogenomics testing. CONCLUSIONS The findings indicate a lack of knowledge and less-than-ideal attitudes among community pharmacists regarding pharmacogenomics testing. Enhanced efforts focused on educational initiatives and training activities related to pharmacogenomics testing is needed. Additionally, reducing workload can facilitate better knowledge acquisition and help mitigate unfavorable attitudes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Azza Ramadan
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Al Ain University, 112612, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
- AAU Health and Biomedical Research Center, Al Ain University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
| | - Anan S Jarab
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Al Ain University, 112612, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- AAU Health and Biomedical Research Center, Al Ain University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Jordan University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 3030, Irbid, 22110, Jordan
| | - Ahmad Z Al Meslamani
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Al Ain University, 112612, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- AAU Health and Biomedical Research Center, Al Ain University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
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Makrygianni D, Koufaki MI, Patrinos GP, Vasileiou KZ. Pharmacy students' attitudes and intentions of pursuing postgraduate studies and training in pharmacogenomics and personalised medicine. Hum Genomics 2023; 17:27. [PMID: 36959668 PMCID: PMC10035981 DOI: 10.1186/s40246-023-00474-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2022] [Accepted: 03/15/2023] [Indexed: 03/25/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Pharmacists' contribution to pharmacogenomics (PGx) implementation in clinical practice is vital, but a great proportion of them are not aware of PGx and its applications. This highlights the university education's crucial role to prepare pharmacists to face future challenges in such a constantly evolving and demanding environment. OBJECTIVES Our study aims to examine pharmacy students' training satisfaction, knowledge, self-confidence and attitudes towards PGx on their intentions for postgraduate training in PGx and personalised medicine (PM). METHODS An initial model on students' intention to pursue postgraduate training in PGx and PM and its predicting factors, based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), was proposed. Based on it, a questionnaire was developed and distributed to 346 pharmacy students of all study years, capturing the selected factors influencing students' intentions to postgraduate training in PGx and PM, as well as their demographics. Structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis was employed to determine the effects of both the examined factors and demographics on students' intentions. RESULTS Students did not consider themselves adequately prepared for using PGx in clinical practice. Their attitudes towards PGx implementation were the most important factor influencing their intentions to pursue postgraduate training in PGx and PM. Other factors such as self-confidence and training satisfaction also affected students' intentions, but to a lower extent. Students of the last two study years (40% of the whole sample) and male (36%) students stated to be less willing to pursue PGx-related studies in the future. Only 10% of the participants claimed to have undergone a recent PGx or genetic test, but this did not affect their intentions. CONCLUSION There is an important gap in pharmacy school curriculum regarding PGx and PM training which coupled with the slow rate of PGx and PM implementation into clinical practice seems to restrain students' aspiration to further expand their knowledge and horizons in terms of PGx and PM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dimitra Makrygianni
- Laboratory of Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy, Department of Pharmacy, University of Patras School of Health Sciences, University Campus, 26504, Patras, Greece
| | - Margarita-Ioanna Koufaki
- Laboratory of Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy, Department of Pharmacy, University of Patras School of Health Sciences, University Campus, 26504, Patras, Greece
| | - George P Patrinos
- Laboratory of Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy, Department of Pharmacy, University of Patras School of Health Sciences, University Campus, 26504, Patras, Greece
- Department of Genetics and Genomics, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Zayed Center for Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | - Konstantinos Z Vasileiou
- Laboratory of Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy, Department of Pharmacy, University of Patras School of Health Sciences, University Campus, 26504, Patras, Greece.
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