OBJECTIVES: Pharmacists are easily accessible healthcare providers for consultations, and parents may seek pharmacist’ opinion about their children’s abnormal behavior. The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge of future pharmacists about autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study that was conducted among the final year students of the Faculty of Pharmacy, International Islamic University Malaysia. A questionnaire to assess the knowledge about ASD was developed based on literature and then validated. The validated questionnaire consisted of 24 statements pertaining to etiology, presentations, and treatment of ASD. The participants were asked to mark each statement as true or false. Each correctly answered statement was given one point.

RESULTS: Fifty-six out of 82 students (68%) answered the questionnaire. The mean (SD) and median score were 17 (0.316) and 17, respectively. About one-third of the participants had inadequate knowledge about ASD; i.e. scored lower than the median point. The frequent incorrectly answered statements were as follows: 78.5% of the participants did not know that ASD associated with mental retardation and slow learning, and 71.43% wrongly believed that changing patient’s diet makes a difference to their outcomes. Moreover, more than half of the participants incorrectly reckoned that ASD is a psychological problem and it is a curable disease.

CONCLUSIONS: The study showed inadequate knowledge among future pharmacists regarding ASD which may be attributed to the lack of courses and lectures that cover this topic in the pharmacy school curriculum. Continuing education could help to enhance pharmacists’ knowledge regarding ASD.