Impact of education workshop on improving pharmacy students’ knowledge
about Helicobacter pylori infection: A randomized controlled study
Abstract
Rationale, aims, and objective: Evidences show that the level of
awareness about H.pylori is still low, and working on this issue is
expected to be very impactful to improve infection rates and disease
spread. This research aimed is to assess the level of knowledge and the
degree of awareness among undergraduate pharmacy students in regard to H
pylori diagnosis and management before and after delivering an
educational pharmacy intervention. Methods: This is a randomized
controlled study that was conducted in May 2020. During the study
period, 72 pharmacy students were invited to attend a workshop about H
pylori management and diagnosis. Participants’ knowledge and general
awareness about H pylori infection was evaluated before and after the
workshop (25-minute educational lecture for the intervention group and
educational pamphlet for the control group). At the end of the workshop
participants’ ability to distinguish and correctly diagnose virtual
cases was tested. Results: Most of the participating students (n=58,
80.6%) haven’t been involved in similar workshops previously. Following
education workshop, students in the intervention group showed a
significant improvement in their knowledge score (from 9.2 (SD=1.9)
pre-workshop to 10.4 (SD= 1.9) post-workshop, (P-value =0.001) while
students in the control group didn’t (pre-workshop knowledge score of
9.1 (SD= 2.2) and post-workshop score of 9.4 (SD= 1.6), (P-value
=0.324). Also, students in the intervention group produced better
results than the control group in distinguishing and diagnosing provided
H pylori cases in the workshop with higher score of 2.2 for the
intervention group compared to 1.6 for the control group (P-value=
0.026). Conclusion: Education workshops about H pylori infection are
needed to build a strong base of qualified healthcare providers as an
outstanding output of our higher educational programs, which in turn
improves the quality and reduces the burden on healthcare systems.