Knowledge and factors associated with good knowledge of sunscreen among pharmacy undergraduate students: a cross-sectional study / Norfarhanah Azmi, Farhana Fakhira Ismail and Mohamed Mansor Manan

Skin is the largest part of human body, which is constantly exposed to Ultraviolet rays from the sun. Overexposure to the sun without protection increases the risk of skin damage and skin cancer. Sun protection, particularly sunscreen is a crucial first-line defence against skin cancer and sun-induced skin damage. The study aims to determine the level of knowledge and factors associated with good knowledge of sunscreen among pharmacy students. This was a cross-sectional study where a validated questionnaire was used. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the study. A total of 296 respondents participated in this study. Overall, two factors were found to be significant in determining good knowledge of sunscreen which are gender and cumulative grade point average (CGPA). Female students and those with CGPA more than 3.5 are associated to good knowledge score compared to their counterparts. Knowledge of sunscreen was observed to be satisfactory, however few elements of sunscreen knowledge can be improvised where majority of the students answered the questions inaccurately. Interventions such as incorporating sunscreen topic in pharmacy curriculum is encouraged.