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Objectives: The current study evaluated the knowledge and its predictors regarding the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) among future healthcare professionals in a university in Malaysia. Methods: A cross-sectional study approach was utilized to recruit the study participants from three different healthcare faculties of a university. A validated research tool with a data collection form was used to obtain data by convenience sampling method. The healthcare faculties involved in the present research were pharmacy, dentistry, and medical. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 24.0 was used to analyze the data. Results: In the current study, a total of 273 participants were recruited. The majority of the study participants had an average and inadequate knowledge about EVD. The male participants had better adequate knowledge than females. Both univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were applied to determine the predictors of knowledge about EVD among the study participants. Statistically, a significant level was taken at p <0.05. Conclusion: Gender and healthcare professionals in the family were observed as the pure predictors of knowledge regarding EVD among the study participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study determined knowledge and attitude of pharmacists about biosimilar mdications in Saudi Arabia. Methods: Pharmacists from different areas and regions were approached to participate in this cross-sectional study. Data were collected by a pre-validated and selfadministered research tool using a convenience sampling technique. Analyses and interpretation of the data were done using descriptive and inferential statistics with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24.0. Results: A total of 319 pharmacists from different specialties participated in the study. A total of 111 pharmacists were males, and 208 were females. All of the pharmacists had varied expertise. Around 41.4% of the studied pharmacists were practicing in the community, 34.5% in hospitals and 24.1% were in other areas. Conclusion: This study reported the current level of pharmacists' knowledge and attitude about biosimilar medications in Saudi Arabia. Statistically, a significant association was observed between male and female pharmacists regarding the introduction of biosimilar medications in the Saudi Arabian healthcare setup. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Community pharmacist's knowledge about the uses of herbal medicines and its adverse drug reactions reporting can contribute in better therapeutic outcomes and patient safety. Objectives: To evaluate community pharmacists' knowledge about the use of herbal medicines and its adverse drug reactions reporting in Kedah state, Malaysia. Methods: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted among 103 pharmacists from 74 different community pharmacies to assess their knowledge about the use of herbal medicines and its adverse drug reaction reporting by using a pre-validate knowledge questionnaire consisting of 12 questions related to it. The pharmacists' responses were measured at a 3-point Likert scale (Poor=1, Moderate=2, and Good=3) and data was entered in SPSS version 22. The minimum and maximum possible scores for knowledge questionnaires were 12 and 36 respectively. Quantitative data was analyzed by using One Way ANOVA and Paired t-test whereas Chi-square and Fisher exact test were used for qualitative data analysis. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant for all the analyses. Results: About 92% of the pharmacist had good knowledge regarding the use of herbal medicines and its adverse drug reaction reporting with a mean knowledge score of 32.88±3.16. One-way ANOVA determined a significant difference of employment setting (p<0.043) and years of experience (<0.008) with mean knowledge scores of Pharmacists. Pharmacists' knowledge was significantly associated with their years of experience with the Chi-square test. Conclusion: Pharmacists exhibit good knowledge regarding the use of herbal medicines and its adverse drug reaction reporting. However, with an increasing trend of herbal medicine use and its adverse drug reaction reporting it recalls the empowerment of experienced pharmacists with training programs in this area for better clinical outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study determined the current awareness and knowledge among physicians about biosimilars in Saudi Arabia. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional study design and data were acquired by the convenience sampling method. The research tool was self-developed, prevalidated and self-administered to achieve the sample size. The physicians from various parts of the country participated in the study. Both, inferential statistics with the help of descriptive statistics were applied using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24.0 and Microsoft Excel. A p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 105 practicing physicians throughout the country participated in the study. The majority of the participants were well informed and had adequate knowledge and awareness about numerous aspects of biosimilars except for the local healthcare policies and payer policies, where around half of them very aware of them. Statistically, a non-significant association (p-value >0.05) was observed. Conclusion: It is concluded that the study physicians had adequate knowledge and awareness about biosimilars in Saudi Arabia. Statistically, a non-significant association (p <0.05) was observed between adequate and inadequate knowledge among the studied physicians in Saudi Arabia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The objective of the study was to evaluate the determinants affecting knowledge of healthcare students towards mental health challenges (MHCs) in a private medical university. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted to correlates the different determinants of university students with their knowledge towards MHCs in a private university in Malaysia. Validated questionnaires were distributed using a convenient stratified sampling technique among students studying in the different healthcare faculties, namely medicine, pharmacy and dentistry. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Version 24.0 was used to analyze the data. Results: Among 284 study participants, male students had less adequate knowledge than females. The majority of the students from the studied faculties had adequate knowledge of MHCs. Students of the age group of 25-30 years had adequate knowledge of MHCs. Multiple logistic regression revealed that statistically significant differences (p<0.05) were present among the three studied variables i.e., faculty, year of education and healthcare professionals in the family. Conclusion: Overall good knowledge of MHCs was observed among the studied cohort of the healthcare students of the private medical university. The present study concluded that faculty, year of education and healthcare professionals in the family were the observed determinants of knowledge about MHCs among the study participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]