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Associations between beliefs about medicines and medicines education: A survey among Finnish comprehensive school teachers

Objective: To describe the association between teachers’ beliefs about medicines and teaching about illnesses and medicines-related topics by Finnish comprehensive school teachers. Design: A nationwide postal survey. Setting: Finnish primary and lower secondary school teachers. Method: Data were collected using a nationwide postal survey from a representative sample (n = 1700) of Finnish primary and lower secondary school teachers in spring 2010. A response rate of 56% (n = 928) was achieved, from which 667 teachers had taught health-related topics. Logistic regression multivariate analysis was used to measure key associations. Results: Among primary school teachers, stronger beliefs about the harmfulness of medicines were associated with teaching basic knowledge about what medicines are (odds ratio [OR] 1.86, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.01–3.45). Although an association was detected, other explanatory factors, for example, teachers’ experience of medicating a long-term illness in their own child, their teaching experience and a qualification in health education and perceived teaching skills, seemed to predict the teaching more than teachers’ beliefs about medicines. Conclusion: Findings have important implications for teacher training and continuing education. If teachers can become more aware of the beneficial aspects of teaching about the rational use of medicines, this may lead to greater inclusion of medicines-related education in school health education.