“Knowledge, Views, and Beliefs of Pharmacy Interns about Pharmacoeconomics Education and Applications: A Descriptive Study from Saudi Arabia”

Abstract

Background Pharmacoeconomics (PE), a part of health economics (HE), focuses on evaluating therapeutic options for treating diseases by identifying, measuring, and comparing the costs of pharmaceutical interventions and their outcomes. Its purpose is to help and guide decision-makers, especially when resources are limited. As a relatively new field in some countries, it continues to evolve slowly, along with several challenges in education, training, and expertise. Objectives This study assessed pharmacy interns' knowledge, views, and beliefs regarding PE and its applications in healthcare. Moreover, we assessed their insights into PE content in undergraduate curricula and the benefits of implementing PE and HE in practical settings. Methods Pharmacy interns at the College of Pharmacy, Unaizah campus, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia, who completed more than 9 months of internship following graduation from the PharmD program, completed an online questionnaire. All 80 pharmacy interns were invited to participate in the study, which was conducted between March and April 2024. Results Among 80 pharmacy interns, 59 completed the survey (response rate: 73.75%). The participants included 29 male interns (49.2%) and 30 female interns (50.8%). Only ten (16.9%) of the total interns had attended educational courses and activities in PE. Among the total participants, 40% (24) thought that the current coverage of PE in the PharmD program was low/very low; 54.2% (32) believed it was average, and only 5.1% (3) believed it was high/very high. Notably, 83.1% (49/59) of the participants reported low/very low familiarity with organizations and conferences related to PE. Approximately two-thirds of the participants (64.4% [38/59]) regarded the necessity of training in PE applications during their internship to be of high/very high importance, whereas 35.6% (21/59) considered it to be of moderate/little importance. The participants scored 3.35 ± 1.43 out of 5 on their knowledge of basic PE analysis concepts. All seven statements concerning the application of PE/HE in healthcare received positive responses from most participants. For example, 56% (33/59) believed that PE/HE enabled pharmacists to accomplish more tasks, 76.3% believed that PE/HE reduced the cost of health services, and 72.9% reported that it facilitated the optimal use of available resources. Approximately 89.8% (53/59) of the participants were interested in acquiring more knowledge about PE/HE through self-learning, specialization, training courses, or further studies. Conclusion Participants had positive views and perceptions of PE/HE in healthcare. They showed good knowledge about PE analysis methods and believed that PE/HE could ensure efficient spending of resources without adversely affecting the quality of care. They were interested in acquiring knowledge through graduate studies, training courses, and self-learning. However, a large proportion of participants believed that the PE/HE content in undergraduate education was insufficient, and most had not attended any related activities. Therefore, we highly recommend increasing PE/HE content at the undergraduate level to ensure adequate exposure. Furthermore, more encouragement from students and interns is needed to attend regional PE activities and gain more knowledge and skills in the field.