Table 2 Socio-demographics of respondents (N = 1146)
Demographics | Pharmacists (n = 650) | Doctors (n = 496) | p value |
|---|---|---|---|
n (%) | n (%) | ||
Gender | |||
 Male | 142 (21.8) | 248 (50.0) | <  0.001 |
 Female | 508 (78.2) | 248 (50.0) |  |
Age (years) | |||
 Mean ± SD | 35.6 ± 6.9 | 39.8 ± 9.2 | <  0.001 |
 Range | 25 to 69 | 27 to 75 |  |
Ethnicity | |||
 Malay | 268 (41.2) | 189 (38.1) | <  0.001 |
 Chinese | 304 (46.8) | 152 (30.6) |  |
 Indian | 54 (8.3) | 141 (28.4) |  |
 Others | 24 (3.7) | 14 (2.8) |  |
Main employment setting | |||
 Public sector |  |  | <  0.001 |
  Hospital-based | 300 (46.2) | 264 (53.2) |  |
  Community-based | 109 (16.8) | 84 (16.9) |  |
  Administrative | 113 (17.4) | 50 (10.1) |  |
  Others | 4 (0.6) | 3 (0.6) |  |
 Private sector |  |  | <  0.001 |
  Hospital-based | 40 (6.2) | 30 (6.0) |  |
  Community-based | 52 (8.0) | 60 (12.1) |  |
  Pharmaceutical industry | 30 (4.6) | 2 (0.4) |  |
  Others | 2 (0.3) | 3 (0.6) |  |
Location strata | |||
 Urban | 541 (83.2) | 439 (88.5) | 0.012 |
 Rural | 109 (16.8) | 57 (11.5) |  |
Work experience (years) | |||
 Mean ± SD | 11.1 ± 6.3 | 14.1 ± 8.5 | <  0.001 |
Attended training on medication safety | |||
 Yes | 474 (72.9) | 249 (50.2) | <  0.001 |
 No | 176 (27.1) | 247 (49.8) |  |
Preferred methods of keeping medicines knowledge up-to-date | |||
 Training or courses | 543 (83.5) | 268 (54.0) | <  0.001 |
 Product package inserts or Consumer medication information leaflets | 471 (72.5) | 223 (45.0) | <  0.001 |
 Medicines reference book | 371 (57.1) | 303 (61.0) | 0.172 |
 NPRA website or bulletin | 371 (57.1) | 82 (16.5) | <  0.001 |
 A mobile phone application | 347 (53.4) | 183 (36.9) | <  0.001 |
 Medical journals | 263 (40.5) | 252 (50.8) | <  0.001 |