PP138 Awareness Of Health Technology Assessment And Its Predictors Among Medical Students In Public Universities In Klang Valley, Malaysia

Abstract

Introduction

Lack of awareness has been recognized as one of the most important barriers in the implementation of health technology assessment (HTA) across numerous countries. Medical students have been identified as a vital target group to instill an awareness, basic knowledge, and positive attitude towards HTA from the beginning of their medical career. Presently, there was no study found conducted on HTA awareness in medical students in Malaysia. This study aims to determine the level of awareness of HTA, and its predictors among clinical year medical students in public universities in Klang Valley, Malaysia.

Methods

A cross-sectional study using the stratified random sampling method was conducted among clinical year medical students in four public universities in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The data on level of awareness of HTA and its associated factors were collected using a self-administered online questionnaire. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 27 to determine the level of awareness of HTA, its associated factors and predictors.

Results

The total number of study participants was 323 and the response rate was 90 percent. The analysis showed that 69 percent of respondents had low level of awareness of HTA while 31 percent had high level of awareness of HTA. Factors associated with the level of awareness of HTA was attitude towards HTA (p < 0.001). The predictors of level of awareness of HTA were attitude towards HTA (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 7.417, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.491, 15.758), peer interaction on HTA (AOR = 0.320, 95% CI: 0.115, 0.888), and previous training on HTA (AOR = 4.849, 95% CI: 1.096, 21.444).

Conclusions

The majority of clinical year medical students in public university have low awareness of HTA which can be predicted by the level of attitude, peer interaction and training of HTA. Therefore, it is important to increase awareness among these future medical practitioners to encourage evidence-based decision-making. Early exposure and introduction of HTA in the current university curriculum in collaboration with a local HTA agency can be recommended to increase awareness as well as to improve students’ attitude towards HTA.