Knowledge and sources of information about medicines among adolescents in Malta

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Abstract

Objective

To investigate knowledge of medicines and sources of information about medicines among adolescents in Malta.

Methods

A self-administered questionnaire was used to survey knowledge of medicines and information sources among adolescents attending secondary schools in Malta. A random stratified sample design generated a sample size of 514 students. Knowledge of medicines was investigated by questions that included topics about the efficacy of medicines, proper communication during a medical consultation, the safety of medicines, antibiotic use and pictograms.

Results

The analytical sample, of which 53.8% were girls, was made up of 474 students, aged 1416 years. The students obtained a mean score of 22.92 points (SD = 4.31) out of a maximum of 32 points for medicine knowledge. More than 30.0% of the respondents did not mark the correct answer for 40.6% of the questions that investigated knowledge of medicines. The family physician, community pharmacist and parents were the sources of information that were mostly cited. A proportion of 4.4% had obtained information from the teacher. A quarter of the respondents (24.7%) had obtained information from friends/schoolmates, young relatives or the media, generally television (17.3%).

Conclusion

Although the level of knowledge about medicines among this study sample of Maltese students was good, there appeared to be particular misconceptions with regard to important aspects associated with the proper use of medicines. These findings highlight the need to educate adolescents about the proper use of medicines. The most important information providers about medicines appeared to be the physician, pharmacist and parents. It is being suggested that education campaigns should be organized in order to help parents guide adolescents on how to use medicines appropriately. In addition, adolescents would benefit if more information about the proper use of medicines would be disseminated by means of television programs and school-based health education curricula.

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Most cited references 49

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To better evaluate patient contribution in antibiotic use, we questioned 5379 subjects from 9 countries. Antibiotics are perceived as strong, efficient drugs, but they are believed to undermine immunity. Interviewees believe that most respiratory infections, except the common cold, require antibiotic therapy, and 11% of them had to exaggerate their symptoms to get an antibiotic prescription from their physician. About 1 patient in 4 saved part of the antibiotic course for future use. Sixty-nine percent of the patients claimed to have taken the course until the end (United Kingdom, 90%; Thailand, 53%), and 75% claimed that they actually took all the daily doses. In all countries, it was possible to get antibiotics from a pharmacist without a medical prescription. This study shows that patients exert pressure on their doctors to get antibiotics and should allow a design for precise educational action aimed at the public for better control of antibiotic use in the community.

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H. Bauchner, S I Pelton, J O Klein (1999)

Emergence of resistant bacterial pathogens has increased concerns about antibiotic prescribing patterns. Parent expectations and pressure may influence these patterns. To understand how parents influence the prescribing patterns of physicians and what strategies physicians believe are important if we are going to reduce inappropriate use of oral antimicrobial agents. One thousand pediatricians who are members of the American Academy of Pediatrics were asked to complete a semi-structured questionnaire. The physicians were chosen randomly by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Nine hundred fifteen pediatricians were eligible and 610 surveys were analyzable, for a response rate of 67%. The majority of respondents were male (56%), worked in a group practice (51%), saw an average of 114 patients per week and were in practice for 14 years. Forty percent of the pediatricians indicated that 10 or more times in the past month a parent had requested an antibiotic when the physician did not feel it was indicated. Forty-eight percent reported that parents always, most of the time, or often pressure them to prescribe antibiotics when their children are ill but antibiotics are not indicated. In follow-up questions, approximately one-third of physicians reported they occasionally or more frequently comply with these requests. Seventy-eight percent felt that educating parents would be the single most important program for reducing inappropriate oral antibiotic use and 54% indicated that parental pressure, in contrast to concerns about legal liability (12%) or need to be efficient in practice (19%), contributed most to inappropriate use of oral antibiotics. Pediatricians acknowledge prescribing antimicrobial agents when they are not indicated. Pediatricians believe educating parents is necessary to promote the judicious use of antimicrobial agents.

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Socioeconomic health inequalities among a nationally representative sample of Danish adolescents: the role of different types of social relations.

J. Lynch, B Holstein, J Modvig … (2003)

To investigate the role of different types of social relations in adolescent health inequalities. Cross sectional study. Measures included family social class, indices of social relations to parents, friends, teachers, and school. Random sample of 55 schools in Denmark. Nationally representative sample of 5205 students from grades 5, 7, and 9. Self reported physical and psychological symptoms. Adolescents from families of lower socioeconomic position reported more physical and psychological symptoms. This ranged from 40% increased odds for multiple physical symptoms among less advantaged girls, to 90% increased odds of multiple psychological symptoms for less advantaged boys. Relationships with friends or teachers showed small social class differences, while strong and consistent social class differences were found in the ways adolescents reported their own and their parents relations to school. For example, girls from families of lower socioeconomic position were more than four times as likely to report their parents unwilling to attend school meetings (odds ratio=4.54, 95% confidence intervals: 2.68 to 7.69). Poorer relations with parents, peers, teachers, and school were all associated with worse health. Patterns of parent-child relations with the school were the greatest contributors to socioeconomic differences in physical and psychological symptoms. The school is one of the first important social institutions directly experienced by children and socioeconomic differences in how adolescents and their parents relate to the school may be part of the cascade of early life influences that can lead to later social and health disadvantage.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Rita Darmanin Ellul

Maria Cordina

Anton Buhagiar

Anthony Fenech

Janet Mifsud.

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Pharm Pract (Granada)

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Pharm Pract (Granada)

Journal ID (publisher-id): Pharm Pract

Title: Pharmacy Practice

Publisher: Centro de Investigaciones y Publicaciones Farmaceuticas

ISSN (Print): 1885-642X

ISSN (Electronic): 1886-3655

Publication date (Print): Oct-Dec 2008

Publication date (Electronic): 15 December 2008

Volume: 6

Issue: 4

Pages: 178-186

Affiliations

Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Malta . Msida (Malta)

Department of Pharmacy, University of Malta . Msida (Malta).

Department of Mathematics, University of Malta . Msida (Malta).

Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Malta . Msida (Malta).

Article

Publisher ID: PhP-241

PMC ID: 4141727

SO-VID: 19c1765f-eab7-450b-9d38-b5ee27130cf4

License:

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Knowledge and sources of information about medicines among adolescents in Malta

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Abstract

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Related collections

Indigenous Knowledge

Most cited references 49

Patients' interviews and misuse of antibiotics.

Parents, physicians, and antibiotic use.

Socioeconomic health inequalities among a nationally representative sample of Danish adolescents: the role of different types of social relations.

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