Systematic Review of Predictors of Success for the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination

Abstract

Objective. Studies have examined possible predictors of success on the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX). This systematic review investigated the literature on potential predictors of success on the NAPLEX. Findings. Articles were included in the review if they included student characteristics and academic performance as independent variables and NAPLEX scores and/or pass rate as an outcome. Data were extracted from each article for students' demographics or variables, sample size, methods of statistical analyses, and results reporting correlation or predictability. From 40 articles retrieved from the initial search and sorting, a total of 20 studies were included in the final review per inclusion criteria. Three studies included all the pharmacy programs, 15 were single-institution studies, 2 multi-institution studies, and 4 published as posters. Among 30 different variables identified as potential predictors of success on the NAPLEX, the most examined variables were student age at matriculation, having a prior degree, Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT) scores, cumulative pharmacy school grade point average (GPA), overall Pharmacy Curriculum Outcomes Assessment (PCOA) scores, and PCOA content areas scores. Positively correlated factors included PCAT scores, not having a prior degree, prepharmacy and pharmacy school GPA, institutional characteristics, and PCOA scores. Negatively correlated factors included older age at admission. Summary. Cumulative pharmacy school GPA and PCOA scores were predictors of NAPLEX success consistently in the studies. The effects of preadmission student characteristics on NAPLEX success varied and were not consistently correlated or predictive.

Comparison of Saudi Pharmacist Licensure Examination (SPLE) Pass Rates by Institution and Applicant Characteristics

“…In our analysis of the SPLE first-time pass rate, there was a borderline significant association between the first-time pass rate and graduating from a public versus private college ( p = 0.062). A similar trend has been reported in the US as well [ 5 , 6 , 9 , 13 ]. In Saudi Arabia, public education (including universities) is free for all Saudi nationals [ 14 ], hence public universities are considered a preferred choice for the majority of high school graduates compared to private schools; this, along with the already low number of private schools, may explain the high number of applicants from public universities, compared to applicants from private schools.…”

“…Our logistic regression results showed that male applicants were less likely to pass the SPLE compared to females, although the pass rate difference was not large (95.8 vs. 97.5%, respectively). In a review of the predictors of success for NAPLEX by Park et al, they included six studies in their review that looked at applicant sex as a predictor [ 9 ]; none of the studies found a difference except for one study that reported that the mean NAPLEX score was higher by 1.65 points ( p = 0.017) in males compared to females. Due to the relatively short age of the SPLE test and the nature of the many colleges where males and females are being taught somewhat separately, this requires further studies to examine the effect of sex in greater depth.…”

“…The United States has a long and rich experience with its pharmacy licensure examination, the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX). The first national pharmacy examination was introduced in 1976, and numerous studies have been published to identify predictors for passing the exam [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ]. One of the studies that examined the impact of pharmacy school characteristics on the NAPLEX first-time pass rate was by Jimenez et al They reported that a public institution and a graduating class size of 100 or more were significant predictors of NAPLEX high pass rates [ 5 ].…”

Multi-institutional Analysis of Student and Program Variables as Predictors of Performance on the NAPLEX

“…A number of studies evaluated only certain predictors (ie, demographics, PCOA), and some studies combined both admission variables and pharmacy program performance variables into the same model when typically, students are assessed at admission and later evaluated for risk of failure based on program performance. 24 Combining these two sets of information into one model may reduce the impact of certain variables, because the predictor variables in the model are related and effects are canceled out. Even…”

“…Given the importance of pass rates to both C/SOPs and graduates, it is critical for C/SOPs to understand the characteristics and risk factors of pharmacy students who are most likely to benefit from supportive services during matriculation. This study and others 24 enable C/SOPs to target their scarce resources where they can make the greatest impact for student success. The purpose of this study was to evaluate two sets of comprehensive student variables for their impact on NAPLEX performance.…”