Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Jul-Sep;5(3):193-9.
doi: 10.4103/2279-042X.185731.

The use of sunscreen products among final year medicine and pharmacy students: A cross-sectional study of knowledge, attitude, practice, and perception

Ammar Ihsan Awadh  1 , Shazia Jamshed  1 , Ramadan M Elkalmi  1 , Hazrina Hadi  2
Affiliations

The use of sunscreen products among final year medicine and pharmacy students: A cross-sectional study of knowledge, attitude, practice, and perception

Ammar Ihsan Awadh et al. J Res Pharm Pract. 2016 Jul-Sep.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the knowledge, attitude, perception, and practice of medical and pharmacy students toward the usage of sunscreen as protection for the skin against ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among final year medical and pharmacy undergraduates at the International Islamic University Malaysia. Validated questionnaires were distributed to 134 medical students and 100 pharmacy students. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used where appropriate.

Findings: One hundred and sixty-one out of 234 participants completed the questionnaires. The participants comprised 101 medical students (75.4%) and sixty pharmacy students (60.0%). The majority of the respondents were females (102; 63.4%), and 59 (36.6%) were males. The median of the knowledge scores of the final year medical students was significantly lower than that of the final year pharmacy students (P < 0.001). The female students showed significantly higher knowledge scores than the male students (P = 0.027). This study reported that 24 (39.3%) pharmacy students were influenced by the media to use sunscreen, whereas 35 (34.7%) medical students were influenced the most by friends to use sunscreen. The final year pharmacy students had a better perception compared to the medical students, with the total perception score of the final year pharmacy students being significantly higher than that of the final year medical students (P = 0.020). Most of the participants were also aware of the harmful effects of UV radiation and had a positive reaction toward the usage of sunscreen to prevent those harmful effects.

Conclusion: The knowledge and perception of final year pharmacy students were significantly higher than the knowledge and perception of final year medical students with regard to the usage of sunscreen.

Keywords: Attitude; knowledge; perception; practice; sunscreen.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Noonan FP, Recio JA, Takayama H, Duray P, Anver MR, Rush WL, et al. Neonatal sunburn and melanoma in mice. Nature. 2001;413:271–2. - PubMed
    1. Veierød MB, Weiderpass E, Thörn M, Hansson J, Lund E, Armstrong B, et al. A prospective study of pigmentation, sun exposure, and risk of cutaneous malignant melanoma in women. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2003;95:1530–8. - PubMed
    1. Ikehata H, Ono T. The mechanisms of UV mutagenesis. J Radiat Res. 2011;52:115–25. - PubMed
    1. Mouret S, Baudouin C, Charveron M, Favier A, Cadet J, Douki T. Cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers are predominant DNA lesions in whole human skin exposed to UVA radiation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006;103:13765–70. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Murphy GM. Sunblocks: Mechanisms of action. Photodermatol Photoimmunol Photomed. 1999;15:34–6. - PubMed