Halal Pharmaceuticals: Knowledge, Attitude And Perception Among Doctors, Pharmacists, Academicians And Public In Malaysia
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Date
2015-04
Authors
SADEEQA, SALEHA
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Abstract
The Muslim population all over the globe is using countless number of drugs which
may contain ingredients contradictory to their faith. As this awareness grows, the
necessity for exploring into the knowledge, attitude and perception of various
players of this field becomes imperative.
This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and perception (KAP) relating
to Halal pharmaceuticals among doctors, pharmacists, academicians and public in
Malaysia. A cross sectional study was carried out using structured, validated, selfadministered
questionnaires. Data was collected through questionnaires sent by post
for academicians, community pharmacists and general medical practitioners while
data from general public was collected through trained data collectors. Hospital
doctors were approached through head of respective departments and hospital
pharmacists were approached through chief pharmacists, by the researcher. For
knowledge statements respondents were asked to choose “Yes” or “No” options,
while for perception and attitude statements, a five point Likert scale was used
starting from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree”. A total of 407 doctors, 310
pharmacists, 170 academicians and 458 respondents from public participated in this
study.
Descriptive statistics was applied to summarize the data, non-parametric tests were
applied. Chi-square Test and Fisher’s Exact Test was utilized to assess the
association between demographic characteristics and knowledge, attitude &
perception scores. To determine the strength and direction of association, Phi
coefficient and Cramer’s V values were applied using Cohen’s criteria for effect
size. To find the differences between knowledge, attitude & perception scores
among different grouping variables, Mann-Whitney test and Kruskal-Wallis test
were applied. To find relationship between knowledge-attitude, knowledgeperception
and attitude-perception, Spearman’s-correlation was applied.
For doctors, mean score for knowledge, attitude, and perception was 7.69 ± 1.67,
34.16 ± 5.96 and 46.23 ± 5.63 out of 9, 45 and 55, respectively. For pharmacists,
mean score for knowledge, attitude, and perception was 7.96 ±1.45, 35.15± 6.64 and
51.59 ±6.26 out of 9, 45 and 60 respectively. For public, mean score for knowledge,
attitude, and perception was 6.41 ± 1.35, 25.86 ± 4.03 and 30.71 ± 4.47 out of 9, 35
and 35, respectively. For academicians, mean score for knowledge, attitude, and
perception was 6.85 ± 1.00, 33.43 ± 8.17 and 62.59 ± 6.11out of 8, 50 and 75,
respectively.
Study findings indicate that respondents have good knowledge and positive attitude
& perception about Halal pharmaceuticals. Significant associations (weak,
moderate, strong) were found between demographic characteristics and different
statements of knowledge, attitude & perception in each domain. Significant
differences were found in test variable scores among different grouping variables.
Significant, positive correlation was found between knowledge-attitude, knowledgeperception
and attitude- perception in each domain.
In summary, the study provides insight into the KAP of respondents regarding Halal
pharmaceuticals. Additional research should be performed to explain the
relationship and connection between each domain of the KAP and the responses
given by study subjects.
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Halal Pharmaceuticals: Knowledge, Attitude And Perception Among , Doctors, Pharmacists, Academicians And Public In Malaysia