The perceptions, confidence and attitudes towards pharmacy practice research: A cross-sectional survey of undergraduate students in public universities in southwest Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46542/pe.2025.251.334345Keywords:
Confidence, Health, Perception, Pharmacy, Practice researchAbstract
Background: Pharmacy practice research (PPR) is essential for providing evidence-based clinical efficacy and cost-effectiveness information on treatments, informing health policy and driving innovation in professional practice. This study aimed to evaluate the perceptions, confidence and attitudes of pharmacy undergraduates towards PPR in Nigeria.
Methods: This study surveyed penultimate and final year pharmacy students from four Nigerian pharmacy schools using a validated 37-item online questionnaire. The Mann-Whitney U test analysed differences in perceptions based on high school type.
Results: Of the 350 participants, 58.9% were aged 21-25 years, and 51.7% attended public high schools. Most participants (57.7%) scored between 2.5 and 3.5 on the perception scale, while 42.0% scored above 3.5. The mean score was 3.37±0.35. Over half (59.7%) enjoyed working on a PPR study, and 62.3% felt confident in evaluating research findings for pharmacy practice. Participants from public schools were more likely to agree that “research is only done in hospitals” compared to those from private schools (p = 0.03).
Conclusion: Many participants had fair perceptions and positive attitudes toward PPR. Less than two-thirds of the participants had confidence in their ability to evaluate PPR findings. Educational policies to promote PPR in pharmacy schools in Nigeria should be implemented.
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