A Survey on the Knowledge of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) among Pharmacy and Medical Students in a Public University

Abstract

Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is a spectrum of conditions ranging from steatosis (without inflammation or fibrosis) to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis which is steatosis with necroinflammation associated with liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. The prevalence of a non-alcoholic fatty liver disease among health-screened patients in suburban medical facilities in Malaysia was reported at 22.7%. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is associated with several complications that can be fatal.Objectives: This study was conducted to assess the awareness of the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease among pharmacy and medical students in a public university in Malaysia.Materials and Methods: The study was conducted through an online cross-sectional survey of 68 third-year students of both programs. The data obtained were initially analyzed through the Shapiro-Wilk normality test and since the data was found to be not normally distributed, the Mann-Whitney U test was conducted to analyze the mean with the level of significance defined at p<0.050. A chi-square test was also conducted to compare the variables involved.Results: The mean score obtained by participants in the third year of the pharmacy program was 9.28 CI 95% (8.60, 9.95) and the mean score recorded for participants in the third year of the medical program was 9.12 CI 95% (8.59, 9.65). Further analysis through Pearson’s Chi-Square test indicated no significant difference between the mean score obtained to the gender and race of the participants.Conclusion: The findings indicated that the score for the awareness of the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease among the respondents was moderate and there was no significant difference between the scores of the two different programs.

Keywords: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; pharmacy; and medical students