Assessment of attitudes of University of Nigeria pharmacy students toward pharmaceutical care

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to describe the attitude of University of Nigeria pharmacy students towards pharmaceutical care. METHOD A survey of pharmacy students in their second to fifth year was conducted. A modified 13-item standard Pharmaceutical Care Attitudes Survey (PCAS) was used for the study. Reliability and factorial validity of the modified instrument were assessed. RESULTS Modification of the instrument did not alter its validity. Students of the University of Nigeria had a positive attitude towards pharmaceutical care as attitude score of all the items were above the midpoint score of 2.5. The mean scale score of second and third year students were significantly lower than that of the fifth year's (Oneway ANOVA, p<0.001). Females had a higher positive attitude score compared to male students (Students t-test, p=0.005). There was no significant difference in the mean scale score among those that had work experience and those without work experience. Marital status did not influence attitude score. CONCLUSION University of Nigeria pharmacy students had a positive attitude towards pharmaceutical care. However, it is necessary to provide sites were students could acquire practice experience and these sites should be designed to enable students observe the integration of pharmaceutical care activities into pharmacy practice.