Evaluating the Impact of a Methampetamine Education Program for Student Pharmacists

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess changes in the attitudes and knowledge of student pharmacists who attend an educational program on health and legal issues resulting from methamphetamine abuse. Methods: This study involved the presentation of a 50-minute educational program aimed at teaching student pharmacists about the health problems resulting from methamphetamine abuse and how these problems led to laws requiring pseudoephedrine-containing products to be behind the pharmacy counter. A pre-test and post-test was used to evaluate and compare knowledge before and after the educational program. Knowledge components included the laws applicable to the sale of pseudoephedrine-containing products and methamphetamine’s effect on the body. Attitude changes about the need to keep pseudoephedrine-containing products behind the pharmacy counter were also evaluated in the pre- test/post-test format. Results: The mean responses for the two attitudinal items on the pre-test and post-test were not significantly different. However, the overall mean (SD) number of correct responses for the knowledge portion (i.e., seven questions) of the pre-test and post-test were 3.04 (0.18) and 5.85 (0.16) (p=8.23 x 10- 18), respectively, reflecting a gain in knowledge. Conclusions: Although the attitudes of the participants regarding keeping pseudoephedrine-containing products behind the pharmacy counter did not change significantly, our findings suggest they did gain knowledge regarding the requirements of the CMEA and the health consequences of methamphetamine abuse.