Sarah Grace Andrew¹, Ganesh Pandian Balasubramanian² , Wong Jing Wen¹, Sireesha Paruchuri²

¹Faculty of Pharmacy; ²Unit of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, AIMST University, Malaysia.

For correspondence:-  Ganesh Balasubramanian   Email: ganeshhhh1@gmail.com   Tel:+60164598264

Received: 21 May 2024        Accepted: 19 March 2026        Published: 30 March 2026

Citation: Andrew SG, Balasubramanian GP, Wen WJ, Paruchuri S. Assessing the knowledge, attitude and perception about potentially inappropriate medications among a private university health-care students in Kedah, Malaysia. Trop J Pharm Res 2026; 25(3):405-413 doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/tjpr.v25i3.13

© 2026 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To assess the knowledge, awareness and perceptive judgment towards potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) among healthcare students in a Malaysian private university. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among healthcare students in a Malaysian private university (n = 110). A self-administered questionnaire was developed with questions framed in the knowledge, perception and awareness domains respectively, which were assessed using the 5-point Likert scale. Chi-square test and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data, while all statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 28.0. Results: The mean scores obtained indicate positive outcomes across all domains: knowledge of PIMs (4.18, SD = 0.54), perceptions of PIMs (4.31, SD = 0.51), awareness of AGS Beers Criteria (3.91, SD = 0.67), and perceptions of educational needs (4.30, SD = 0.62). These findings suggest that healthcare students demonstrated acceptable knowledge, awareness, and perception of educational needs related to PIMs in geriatric care. Conclusion: The knowledge, perception, awareness and educational needs perception of the respondents were acceptable; however, a structured educational intervention remains essential to equip future healthcare professionals with a strong foundation on PIMs and their implications on the geriatric population.

Keywords: Geriatrics, Potentially inappropriate medications, Polypharmacy, AGS Beers Criteria, Healthcare students

Impact Factor
Thompson Reuters (ISI): 0.6 (2023)
H-5 index (Google Scholar): 49 (2023)