Knowledge and Awareness of the Side Effects and Drug Interactions of Antibiotics and Analgesics Among the Dental Students in Iraq

Students in colleges of dentistry in Iraq can prescribe some medications during the fourth and fifth year of their undergraduate study of dentistry under the supervision of their seniors in the dental clinics. Numerous researches in many countries all over the world has identified the gaps in pharmacotherapeutic knowledge among dental students, but no such researche was made in Iraq. This study aimed to measure knowledge and awareness of the side effects and drug interactions of the drugs that are mostly prescribed the dental clinics by Iraqi dental students. A cross-sectional study was directed among 890 undergraduate Iraqi dental students using a structured closed-ended online questionnaire regarding their perception, attitude, knowledge, and awareness toward drug prescription. The online survey was done from March to April 2022. The online questionnaires were completed by 890 Iraqi dental students. This study revealed that dental students had made many mistakes during drug prescriptions due to a lack of pharmacological information, especially regarding analgesics and antibiotic prescriptions. Over and irrational prescription of antibiotics was also found.