Pharmacy students' attitudes toward pharmaceutical care in Riyadh region Saudi Arabia

Aim of the study The objectives of the study were to investigate and describe the attitude of Saudi pharmacy students toward pharmaceutical care. Method A survey of pharmacy students (8th-10th educational levels) was conducted from September to December 2006, in college of pharmacy King Saud University, Riyadh. The students completed a self-administered questionnaire designed to test the study objectives. The instrument (Standard Pharmaceutical Care Attitudes Survey, PCAS) used in the questionnaire was developed and revalidated in USA. Descriptive statistics on the sample characteristics and questionnaire items include means, standard deviation and frequency distribution. Student's t test and one-way ANOVA were used for inferential statistics. Results A total of 214 students (85.6% response rate) completed the questionnaire. The Cronbach alpha was found to be 0.792. Of the respondents, 95.2% felt that pharmaceutical care movement will improve patient health, 94.9% thought that the practice of pharmaceutical care is valuable, 85% "strongly agree" or "agree" that all pharmacists should perform pharmaceutical care, whereas, about two third (64.5%) "strongly agree" or "agree" that students should perform pharmaceutical care during their clerkships. The rated scores and factor loading, which are used to determine items that belong to the group responses, were reported. Determination of communalities reveled no item had loading factor of < 0.4 and therefore, the mean total score was computed to be 56.17 +/- A 0.29019. Females had significantly higher positive attitudes than their male counterparts, and this were also associated with age and marital status. Conclusion Saudi pharmacy students in the study indicated favorable positive attitudes toward pharmaceutical care, and the attitude ratings were associated with age, sex and marital status. A nationwide survey including all pharmacy faculties would provide further evidence. The validity of PCAS needs cross validation in Saudi Arabia.