Assessing the preparedness and future-readiness of Malaysian community pharmacists in Klang Valley regarding the use of medical marijuana.

BACKGROUND: This study investigated community pharmacists' level of knowledge and attitude towards medical marijuana and its association with sociodemographic characteristics. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from 21 February 2022 to 15 November 2022. Community pharmacists working in Klang Valley were given a self-administered questionnaire. This survey instrument facilitated the collection of information about their sociodemographic attributes, training background, and knowledge and attitude concerning medical marijuana. Through rigorous analysis of the accumulated data, discernible factors correlating with the levels of knowledge and attitudes surrounding medical marijuana were identified. RESULTS: The majority (n=149, 53.8%) of participants had low knowledge of medical marijuana. Participants with lower knowledge of medical marijuana tend to have a negative attitude toward medical marijuana. Besides that, male participants showed higher knowledge of medical marijuana than female participants. Furthermore, it was found that atheists had the most negative attitude among other religions toward medical marijuana. CONCLUSION: Most community pharmacists in Malaysia lack sufficient knowledge about medical marijuana. This indicates that Malaysian pharmacists are not future-ready and need to equip themselves with adequate knowledge of the indications and adverse effects of medical marijuana if it is to be legalised one day. Thus, there is a need for improved training and education of pharmacists around cannabis-based medicines.

Psychometric properties of a mental health literacy questionnaire for university students in Indonesia

Background: Mental health literacy is necessary for early recognition and intervention of mental disorders. Its multifaceted structure provides useful perspectives for developing a tool to assess mental health literacy. Objective: This study aimed to adapt the Mental Health Literacy Questionnaire (MHLq) designed to observe mental health literacy among university students and to test its construct validity and internal consistency. The impact of a sociodemographic variable on mental health literacy score was also explored. Methods: A number of 650 university students participated in this study. The questionnaire items were adapted using a backward forward translation. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to examine the construct validity. Internal consistency of the questionnaire was tested using Cronbach’s Alpha. Results: The results showed that the MHLq modified version possessed good validity and reliability (total scale α=0.821) that may be used as a screening tool by mental health professionals and researchers to identify intervention needs among university students. Conclusions: This study also found that individuals who identified knowing someone with a mental health problem performed better on the MHLq global score and three-dimensional factors than those who did not. Future studies are needed to further develop and adapt the questionnaire to reach different target-populations. (AU)