Food–drug interactions (FDIs) emerge when a drug and a food item, dietary supplement, or plant-derived nutrient interact through chemical, physical, or physiological processes. Pharmacists have a critical role in identifying and managing such interactions. This study aimed to explore factors that influence FDI knowledge and comprehension among licensed pharmacists and final-year pharmacy students. Additionally, in senior pharmacy students, the study assessed how FDI training affected knowledge both immediately and over time. Participants were asked to complete the Turkish FDI Knowledge Scale online, which has been previously validated. Senior pharmacy students first completed the scale, followed by an in-person verbal training session to examine its impact on FDI understanding. Subsequently, the same scale was re-administered at two later time points to assess short- and long-term knowledge retention. Binary logistic regression was employed to identify predictors of achieving good or very good FDI knowledge scores according to the scale.
A total of 356 individuals participated, with a mean age of 28.99 ± 7.79 years. When comparing educational levels, senior pharmacy students had the lowest mean knowledge score (9.23 ± 3.78), while pharmacists with specialty training or ongoing postgraduate education had the highest scores (17.00 ± 2.73). Participants who never provided counseling about FDIs had the lowest average score (8.80 ± 4.18), while those who frequently provided counseling had the highest (14.28 ± 3.68). Age and years of professional experience were positively associated with knowledge scores (Spearman’s r: age 0.354; experience 0.419; p < 0.001). Following FDI training, senior pharmacy students showed a significant increase in mean scores (p < 0.001), rising from 8.85 ± 3.57 pre-training to 16.24 ± 3.15 shortly after, with scores remaining stable in the long term (16.67 ± 2.59; p = 0.307). Female gender (OR 1.842; 95% CI 1.027–3.302) and high self-rated FDI knowledge (OR 18.311; 95% CI 4.879–68.718) were significant predictors of good or very good knowledge scores. Since senior pharmacy students had the lowest FDI knowledge, and pharmacists with specialty or continuing education had the highest, integrating FDI courses into undergraduate curricula and providing ongoing professional training is recommended to improve pharmacists’ competence in this area.
