A prospective cross-sectional study of knowledge, attitude, and perception on the mechanism of action of drugs among 3rd year MBBS students at Kurnool Medical College

Background: Recent times have witnessed the emergence of many new drugs and drug combinations due to the technological advances targeting personalized therapeutics. Proper knowledge and understanding on mechanism of action of prescribing drugs is essential to avoid complications like drug-drug interactions, adverse drug effects, antimicrobial resistance, treatment failure and financial burden on the patient and nation as well. It is the need of the hour to impart adequate knowledge to the medical undergraduates on mechanism of action of drug. Methods: A prospective, cross sectional, observational study was carried out to assess the knowledge, attitude and perception (KAP) on mechanism of action of drug among 3rd MBBS students, Kurnool Medical college, Kurnool. A pre-validated questionnaire was used to assess the KAP using Google forms. Results: A total of 240 google forms were analyzed. According to Bloom’s taxonomy, the mechanism of action of Aspirin and Statins was correctly known to 92.9% and 80.8% of students, respectively. The use of albuterol in the treatment of asthma and use of proton pump inhibitor in the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease were known to 65.0% and 76.7% of students respectively. 25.4% students only know the mechanism of action of metformin. 68.8% of the students strongly believe that the mechanism of action of drug is very important to prescribe drugs by the physicians. 45.8% of students strongly agreed that good understanding of mechanism of action of drug would help in future practice for better patient outcomes. Conclusions: It is essential to revise and have peer group discussions periodically to memorize and update themselves about the mechanism of action of both the established and new drugs. Various teaching methods like small group discussions, self-directed learning (SDL), integrating teaching, OSPE (Objective Structured Practical Examination) and role play can be utilized effectively to make learning interesting, interactive and more productive.