Knowledge and attitude of school children in Amman/Jordan toward the appropriate use of medicines: A cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study is to examine the knowledge, practice, and attitude toward medications of different primary school children at age group (7-9) years.

METHODS

This cross sectional study adopted the form of structured interviewing technique using a validated and pre-piloted questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of a mixture of multiple choice and open-ended questions, 15 USP pictograms and six dosage form demos. A randomized stratified target sample of 200 students (n = 100 of each gender), of the first, second and third grades from the four Amman Education Directorates was recruited. School children were interviewed regarding their knowledge, attitude and the way they think medicines should be used.

RESULTS

The mean score value achieved by children in all the knowledge questions was 23.26 ± 0.25 out of 32, which was considered as satisfactory knowledge by the research team. The most significant factors affecting children's knowledge (including: multiple choice questions, pictograms and dosage forms) were: age, school/area of residency, and the presence of a first-degree relative working in a medical job. The majority of participants (79%) stated that the taste of the medication was the main factor to prevent them from taking their medication.

CONCLUSION

In general, school children in our sample have satisfactory knowledge and a generally positive attitude toward medicines. However, school curricula in Jordan should include more education regarding the effective and safe use of medicines.