Knowledge and Awareness on Personalized Medicine amongst Health Care Specialists and University Students in Health Colleges in Saudi Arabia
Nehad J. Ahmed *
Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Alkharj, Saudi Arabia.
Abdulrahman S. Alrawili
College of Pharmacy, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Alkharj, Saudi Arabia.
Faisal Z. Alkhawaja
College of Pharmacy, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Alkharj, Saudi Arabia.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Aim: There are a few studies about the populations' knowledge and perceptions on personalized medicine in Saudi Arabia until now. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and awareness on personalized medicine amongst health care specialists and university students in health colleges in Saudi Arabia.
Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study that include a survey targeting health care specialists. The survey translated to Arabic and after validation, it was converted to an online survey using google forms.
Results: About 52.34% of the participants have heard about different terms regarding personalized medicine (personalized medicine, healthcare reform, individualized care and pharmacogenomics). Most of the health care specialists in the present study said that they have poor knowledge about personalized medicine (68.75%). Most of the participants in the present study were interested to learn about personalized medicine and showed a positive attitude about it.
Conclusion: The present study found that health care specialists had a poor knowledge about personalized medicine but they are interested to learn more about this field. Therefore, more training and awareness programs about personalized medicine are needed to facilitate its introduction in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, more focus on this field should be introduced into the health colleges’ curricula.
Keywords: Awareness, healthcare specialists, knowledge, personalized medicine