Healthcare professionals' awareness and knowledge of adverse drug reactions and pharmacovigilance

Assessment of physicians' knowledge, thoughts, and attitudes regarding the phytovigilance system

BACKGROUND

In this study, physicians' awareness of phytovigilance and their knowledge of safety processes for herbal products were evaluated for the first time in Türkiye.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

A descriptive quantitative study was conducted using face-to-face interview techniques with physicians working in a training and research hospital in Türkiye. A total of 268 (35.2%) questionnaires with appropriate data quality were analyzed with IBM SPSS Statistics 23.0. The factors that had the strongest effect on phytovigilance awareness were determined by binary logistic regression analysis. Values of p < 0.05 were accepted as statistically significant.

RESULTS

The survey results revealed that 45.5% of physicians were aware of the concept of phytovigilance. Physicians who knew that adverse effects were reported due to the use of herbal products, physicians who asked about the use of herbal products while taking their patients' medical history, and specialist physicians had higher awareness of the concept of phytovigilance. Only 30.2% of participants were aware that feedback on adverse reactions from herbal products was being collected and only 27.2% were aware that there was a phytovigilance contact point in the hospital.

CONCLUSION

The awareness of physicians regarding phytovigilance should be increased. Physicians should ask about the use of herbal products while taking medical history, identify possible adverse effects associated with herbal products, and provide feedback.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Materiovigilance Among Healthcare Professionals at a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital

Objective This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of materiovigilance among healthcare professionals (HCPs) at a tertiary care teaching hospital in South Gujarat, India. Specifically, it sought to identify gaps in current understanding and reporting practices related to adverse events associated with medical devices. Introduction Materiovigilance, the systematic monitoring and assessment of adverse events related to medical devices, is crucial for ensuring patient safety and enhancing device performance. In India, the Materiovigilance Programme of India (MvPI) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare oversees the safe use of medical devices, integrating them with the pharmacovigilance framework. Despite these efforts, challenges persist in awareness, reporting practices, and the integration of materiovigilance among healthcare professionals. The knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of these professionals are pivotal for effective adverse event reporting, but underreporting due to a lack of awareness, inadequate training, and perceived administrative burden remains a significant barrier. The study underscores the importance of training programs, improving reporting infrastructure, and fostering a safety culture within healthcare institutions to enhance the effectiveness of materiovigilance in India. Methodology An observational, cross-sectional study was conducted using a questionnaire-based approach. A total of 215 HCPs, including consultant doctors, resident doctors, and nursing staff, participated in the study. The questionnaire covered aspects of knowledge regarding the Materiovigilance Programme of India (MvPI), classification of medical devices, attitudes towards adverse event reporting, and actual reporting practices. Data collection was carried out electronically over the course of one month using Google Forms (Google LLC, Mountain View, California, United States). Results Among the participants, 135 (62.79%) correctly identified MvPI as the program for monitoring adverse events caused by medical devices. A majority of 188 (87.44%) understood that medical devices in India are classified based on a risk-based approach. Positive attitudes towards reporting adverse events were prevalent, with 202 (93.95%) acknowledging the potential for adverse events from medical devices and agreeing on the importance of reporting. However, a significant gap was noted between noticing adverse events (138 participants, 64.19%) and actual reporting (60 participants, 27.91%), indicating a need for improved reporting practices. Only 104 participants (48.37%) had participated in workshops or continuing medical education (CME) sessions on medical device safety. Conclusion The study reveals a strong foundation of knowledge and positive attitudes towards the materiovigilance among HCPs in South Gujarat. However, there is a notable discrepancy between awareness and actual reporting practices. To enhance the effectiveness of materiovigilance, interventions such as targeted educational programs and simplification of reporting procedures are recommended. These efforts are essential to ensure timely detection, reporting, and management of adverse events related to medical devices, thereby enhancing patient safety and overall healthcare quality.

Exploring pharmacovigilance practices and knowledge among healthcare professionals: A cross-sectional multicenter study

Introduction

Healthcare professionals' awareness of adverse drug reaction reporting and pharmacovigilance practices differ by country. The study assesses healthcare professionals' knowledge, practice, and potential barriers to pharmacovigilance-related practices and reporting adverse drug reaction.

Methods

A cross-sectional investigation was conducted in government and private healthcare settings. The study included licensed physicians, pharmacists, and nurses. To examine knowledge, practice, and potential barriers to pharmacovigilance-related practices and adverse drug reaction reporting, a 22-item validated questionnaire was used.

Results

The final analysis included 311 healthcare professionals. Most healthcare professionals, 59% (N = 182), mentioned encountering patients with adverse drug reactions during the last year. On the other hand, most healthcare professionals, 54% (n = 167), mentioned that they had not reported adverse drug reactions. A good proportion of respondents mentioned that it is essential to report adverse drug reactions (N = 288, 92.6%), availability of adverse drug reactions reporting forms in practice sites (N = 216, 69.5%), had awareness regarding how to report adverse drug reactions (N = 221, 71.1%), the necessity of reporting minor/less important adverse drug reactions (N = 265, 85.2%), and were trained on how to report adverse drug reactions (N = 201, 64.6%). Adverse drug reaction reporting program in the United Arab Emirates (N = 148, 47.6) was known to many healthcare professionals. Lack of time was the major impediment to reporting adverse drug reactions at 42.7% (N = 133). The predictor variable work experience does add to the model (p < 0.05) concerning association with filling of adverse drug reaction forms (Estimate = 0.380; SE = 0.452; p = 0.400), professional role (Estimate = 0.454; SE = 0.673; p = 0.500). In addition, the predictor variable practice setting adds to the model (p < 0.05) concerning the knowledge regarding the availability of adverse drug reaction reporting forms (Estimate = -1.229; SE = 0.298; p = 0.000), training on how to report adverse drug reactions (Estimate = -0.660; SE = 0.294; p = 0.025), and awareness regarding the adverse drug reaction reporting program in the United Arab Emirates (Estimate = -1.032; SE = 0.280; p = 0.000).

Conclusion

Pharmacists had the most knowledge regarding adverse drug reaction reporting and pharmacovigilance. The underreporting of adverse drug reactions was documented among physicians and nurses. Lack of time was the most significant barrier to reporting adverse drug reactions, followed by uncertainty and complicated adverse drug reaction documentation forms.

An Awareness of Pharmacovigilance Among Healthcare Professionals Due to an Underreporting of Adverse Drug Reactions Issue: A Systematic Review of the Current State, Obstacles, and Strategy

BACKGROUND

Healthcare professionals play an essential role in reporting adverse drug reactions as part of pharmacovigilance activities. However, adverse drug reactions reported by healthcare professionals remain low.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this systematic review was to investigate healthcare professionals' knowledge, awareness, attitude, and practice on pharmacovigilance and adverse drug reaction reporting, explore the causes of the underreporting issue, and provide improvement strategies.

METHODS

This systematic review was conducted using four electronic databases for original papers, including PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Scholar ID. Recent publications from 1st January 2012 to 31st December 2022 were selected. The following terms were used in the search: "awareness", "knowledge", "adverse drug reaction", "pharmacovigilance", "healthcare professional", and "underreporting factor". Articles were chosen, extracted, and reviewed by the two authors.

RESULTS

Twenty-five studies were selected for systematic review. This review found that 24.8%-73.33% of healthcare professionals were unaware of the National Pharmacovigilance Center. Around 20%-95.7% of healthcare professionals have a positive attitude toward pharmacovigilance and adverse drug reaction reporting, while 12%-60.8% of healthcare professionals have experience reporting any adverse drug reaction in their practice. The most frequently highlighted barriers to pharmacovigilance were a lack of awareness and knowledge regarding what, when, and to whom to report.

CONCLUSION

Underreporting issues require immediate attention among healthcare professionals due to a lack of awareness and knowledge of pharmacovigilance and adverse drug reaction reporting. Educational and training program interventions have been suggested by most studies to address these issues.

A nationwide survey of methods and barriers to adverse drug reaction monitoring and reporting among hospital pharmacists in Thailand

OBJECTIVES

To explore the methods of adverse drug reaction identification and monitoring used by hospital pharmacists in all regions of Thailand, to explore barriers to and pharmacists' attitudes towards adverse drug reaction monitoring and reporting, and to assess the factors related to these aspects.

METHODS

Pharmacists in 480 hospitals in Thailand were selected by stratified sampling. Self-administered questionnaires were sent by post and pharmacists returned completed questionnaires via QR code.

KEY FINDINGS

In total, pharmacists at 286 hospitals returned the questionnaire (response rate = 59.6%). The most common adverse drug reaction (ADR) monitoring methods were the spontaneous reporting system (SRS), which was used by 100% of respondents, followed by high alert drug lists (73.1%) and routine adverse drug reaction monitoring (64.0%). The most frequently used methods of adverse drug reaction prevention were providing drug allergy card and recording allergy history in database. The major barrier to adverse drug reaction monitoring and reporting among respondents was uncertainty about whether the suspected drug caused the reaction (49.3%). Pharmacists had a good attitude towards adverse drug reaction monitoring and reporting (60.5%). Longer work experience (≥10 years) was negatively related with good attitudes towards adverse drug reaction monitoring and reporting (OR = 0.535, P = 0.040), whereas higher education level was positively related (OR = 2.201, P = 0.025).

CONCLUSIONS

Spontaneous reporting system is the main method used for adverse drug reaction monitoring and reporting among hospital pharmacists in Thailand. Pharmacists had good attitudes towards adverse drug reaction monitoring and reporting, however, barriers remain.

Factors Associated with Underreporting of Adverse Drug Reactions by Health Care Professionals: A Systematic Review Update

INTRODUCTION

Underreporting is a major limitation of the voluntary reporting system of adverse drug reactions (ADRs). A 2009 systematic review showed the knowledge and attitudes of health professionals were strongly related with underreporting of ADRs.

OBJECTIVE

Our aim was to update our previous systematic review to determine factors (sociodemographic, knowledge and attitudes) associated with the underreporting of ADRs by healthcare professionals.

METHODS

We searched the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases for studies published between 2007 and 2021 that met the following inclusion criteria: (1) published in English, French, Portuguese or Spanish; (2) involving health professionals; and (3) the goal was to evaluate factors associated with underreporting of ADRs through spontaneous reporting.

RESULTS

Overall, 65 papers were included. While health professional sociodemographic characteristics did not influence underreporting, knowledge and attitudes continue to show a significant effect: (1) ignorance (only serious ADRs need to be reported) in 86.2%; (2) lethargy (procrastination, lack of interest, and other excuses) in 84.6%; (3) complacency (the belief that only well tolerated drugs are allowed on the market) in 46.2%; (4) diffidence (fear of appearing ridiculous for reporting merely suspected ADRs) in 44.6%; and (5) insecurity (it is nearly impossible to determine whether or not a drug is responsible for a specific adverse reaction) in 33.8%, and the absence of feedback in 9.2%. In this review, the non-obligation to reporting and confidentiality emerge as new reasons for underreporting.

CONCLUSIONS

Attitudes regarding the reporting of adverse reactions continue to be the main determinants of underreporting. Even though these are potentially modifiable factors through educational interventions, minimal changes have been observed since 2009.

CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION

PROSPERO registration number CRD42021227944.

Healthcare professionals' awareness, attitudes and practices towards pharmacovigilance and spontaneous adverse drug reaction reporting in Jazan Province, Saudi Arabia: A survey study

Background

Globally, adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are the foremost cause of morbidity as well as mortality. This necessitates a system of surveillance that can effectively and efficiently monitor the effect of drugs on the general population. The role of pharmacovigilance (PV) is paramount in ensuring drug safety through spontaneous ADR reporting.

Methods

Data collection in the current research was carried out by an anonymous, online 36-item self-report questionnaire amongst a sample of 351 working healthcare professionals (HCPs) across different regions of Jazan Province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The current sample comprised 54.4% males and 45.6% females, having an age range of 26-57 years, and was conducted between August 21 and October 21, 2022. Participants were recruited using the convenience snowball sampling technique.

Results

The participants' awareness of PV as well as spontaneous ADR reporting, had a significant association with having <40 years of age (χ² = 27.40; p < 0.001), being pharmacists (χ² = 212.20; p < 0.001), with more than five years of experience (χ² = 40.80; p < 0.001), having Masters (or) Doctorate/Fellowship (χ² = 171.94; p < 0.001), and having their practice located in an urban area (χ² = 50.30; p < 0.001). It was also observed that most participants with excellent awareness of PV and spontaneous ADR reporting also demonstrated excellent attitudes (χ² = 147.70; p < 0.001). Similarly, it was also seen that almost all (97%) of the study sample with excellent attitudes towards PV and spontaneous ADR reporting also demonstrated excellent practices (χ² = 250.73; p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Our results demonstrate a need for designing and conducting educational programs, providing training and conducting workshops for all the HCPs to improve their awareness towards PV and spontaneous ADR reporting while also highlighting the need and importance of having positive attitudes towards spontaneous ADR reporting. Cooperation between different HCPs should be encouraged to improve their practices towards spontaneous ADR reporting.

A National Survey of Community Pharmacists’ Viewpoints About Pharmacovigilance and Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting in Saudi Arabia

This study assessed the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of community pharmacists regarding pharmacovigilance and adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting system in Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional survey of community pharmacists from different regions in Saudi Arabia was performed through convenience sampling between November 2020 and January 2021. The responses were received from 1,172 community pharmacists. Most respondents (86.7%) were familiar with the National Pharmacovigilance and Drug Safety Center, and 830 (70.8%) knew about the ADR reporting form. The majority (94%) of the respondents agreed with the importance of reporting ADRs for patient care and national health. Although 92.2% of the participants asked their patients about ADRs, 90.2% agreed that more training programs are required to be organized by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority for healthcare professionals on the ADR detection and reporting system. Analgesic agents were the most common drug category for which ADRs were reported (67.4%). The majority (92.1%) of ADRs reportedly occurred in patients with chronic diseases. The study concluded that most community pharmacists in Saudi Arabia are knowledgeable and have good attitudes and practices regarding pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting.

Knowledge, attitude and practice of hospital pharmacists towards Pharmacovigilance and adverse drug reaction reporting in Najran, Saudi Arabia

Introduction

 Pharmacovigilance (PV) is critical in determining the risk–benefit ratio of medicines and encouraging their safe, rational, and effective use, hence enhancing patient safety and care. Pharmacists, as drug experts, share responsibility for ensuring that medicines remain safe.

Objective

 The study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of hospital pharmacists towards PV and adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting and to know factors that discourage them from reporting ADRs in Najran, Saudi Arabia.

Methods

A pre-tested self-administered questionnaire was distributed to all the pharmacists working in government hospitals who consented to participate in the study. Data was collected over three months, from 01 June 2018 to 31 Aug 2018. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software for Windows, version 23. Descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentages, mean ± standard deviation (SD) were calculated, and the Pearson's Chi-square test was used to examine the relationship between different variables.

Results

A total of 145 questionnaires were distributed, and the response rate obtained was 70.3%. The definition of PV and ADR were correctly identified by 42% and 68.3% of participants, respectively. A noteworthy finding is that 95% of participants were aware of the existence of the ADR reporting system, and 88.9% knew the responsible regulatory agency. Participants showed a positive attitude towards PV and ADR reporting; 90.1% considered ADR reporting a part of professional obligation, and 94.1% believed that there should be collaboration between pharmacists and other healthcare professionals. A majority of participants (86.1%) had identified an ADR during their practice, and 71.3% had reported an ADR. The unavailability of a professional environment to discuss ADR and insufficient pharmacotherapy/clinical knowledge was cited as the main factors discouraging from reporting ADRs.

Conclusions

Overall, the pharmacists had an average to good knowledge of and positive attitude towards PV and ADR reporting and a good ADR reporting practice. The concept of PV and ADR reporting should be further strengthened, and there is a vast potential for the same.

Pharmacovigilance education to healthcare professionals: Will it affect their performance in reporting adverse drug reactions?

AIM

To assess impact of pharmacovigilance (PV) educational program on knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of healthcare professionals (HCPs).

METHODS

a prospective study was conducted on HCPs at an Egyptian hospital. The study included: pre-education phase; where KAP questionnaire was administered by HCPs to obtain baseline data, intervention phase; where educational sessions were held by clinical pharmacists and Egyptian PV centre, and post-education phase; where the questionnaire was re-administered by participants 9 months post-receiving educational sessions. The questionnaire comprised five sections: participants' demographics, knowledge, attitude and practice sections and two multiple choice questions asking about the importance of establishment of ADRs monitoring centre, and factors hindering ADRs reporting. Pre-education and post-education data were compared.

RESULTS

From 221 HCPs invited to participate, only 153 filled the pre-education and post-education questionnaires. At baseline, the median (range) of the total KAP score were 1 (0-7), 1 (0-4) and 4 (0-14) for physicians, nurses and pharmacists, respectively. All KAP scores were low for all HCPs at baseline with the pharmacists having significantly higher knowledge and attitude scores compared with physicians, and nurses (P < .001). After education, all scores significantly increased and 13 ADRs were reported by HCPs compared with only 2 at baseline.

CONCLUSION

It was concluded that educational program had a significant impact on enhancing KAP of HCPs towards PV and ADRs reporting.

Medication safety knowledge, attitude, and practice among hospital pharmacists in tertiary care hospitals in Saudi Arabia: a multi-center study

BACKGROUND

Pharmacovigilance (PV) demarcates all actions involving the detection and prevention of adverse drug reactions (ADR) for marketed drugs. However, ADRs are considerably underreported worldwide and continue to be a major concern to health care systems. This study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude, and perception of hospital pharmacists regarding medication safety concerning PV and ADRs across multiple tertiary care centers around Saudi Arabia.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted between July 2019 and January 2020. Pharmacists working in the tertiary care centers of Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia were asked to participate in the study. A self-administered questionnaire was used to conduct this study, it consisted of: 63 questions out of which 19 questions were knowledge-based, 15 were attitude-based, and 29 were practice-based questions.

RESULTS

A total of 350 pharmacists were distributed and 289 agreed to participate, giving a response rate of 82.6%. Most pharmacists were aware of the concept of VP and its functions (96.5%) and (87.2%), respectively. Moreover, 90% said that ADR can be preventable and non-preventable. However, the findings revealed inadequate knowledge about the overall PV field, where the majority of the pharmacists failed to correctly answer questions related to independent ADRs treatment, Augmented drug reaction, the international location of ADR, and the World Health Organization "online database" for reporting ADRs. Moreover, incomplete and/or wrong answers were recorded for questions that included single or multiple correct answers. Regarding the participants" attitude, 96.9% were interested in ADR reporting, agreeing that ADR is important to enable safe drug usage. Although a general positive attitude was recorded, pharmacists have stated that the three main barriers that hinder reporting ADRs are: unavailability of information about ADRs, lack of awareness about the need to report ADRs, and lack of time. Concerning practice, 69.2% said they received training in ADRs reporting, and 70% have reported ADRs more than once a week.

CONCLUSION

Surveyed pharmacists from Riyadh hospitals showed narrow knowledge of the PV field. However, a positive attitude and satisfactory practice was observed among pharmacists. These findings warrant the need for educational programs and an encouraging environment for ADR reporting to increase ADR reporting rates and support PV activities in Saudi Arabia.

Assessment of a Pharmacovigilance Module: An Interventional Study on Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Pharmacy Students

Background

The aim of the study was to assess the impact of a pharmacovigilance module on the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of pharmacy students and elucidate their feedback on the module.

Methodology

Bachelor of pharmacy students at Pokhara University, Nepal, were assessed for their baseline KAP on drug safety and related issues using a KAP questionnaire (Cronbach alpha 0.70) consisting of 25 questions. Students' baseline KAP was assessed and after that, they were grouped into either control (2^nd and 4^th year) or test (1^st and 3^rd year) groups. The later received the pharmacovigilance training in three 1-h sessions spread over 6 months at 0, 90, and 180 days; the sessions covered introduction to pharmacovigilance, theoretical aspects of pharmacovigilance, and adverse drug reaction reporting procedures. KAP scores and student feedback were analyzed at 5% significance level.

Results

A total of 124 students (control = 56 and test = 68) were studied. The median (interquartile ranges [IQRs]) of the baseline scores prior to grouping the students into control and test groups was 20 (18.25-21.00) for knowledge, 19.5 (18.00-21.00) for attitude/practice, and 39 (37.00-41.00) for the total score. Males (n = 81) had a slightly higher median score of 40 (37-42) than females (n = 43), who had a median score of 38 (36-41). The KAP score for the control group was 40 (38-42) at baseline, 42 (20-44) during first follow-up, 41.5 (40-44) during second follow-up, and 41 (39-44.5) during third follow-up. For the test group, upon intervention, the KAP scores improved from 39 (36.25-40.75) at baseline to 42 (39.50-44.00) at the 1^st follow-up, 43 (41-45) at the 2^nd follow-up, and 44 (42-45) at the 3^rd follow-up (P < 0.001). The median feedback score (IQR) was 86 (81.5-90.0).

Conclusions

Pharmacy students had good attitude/practice scores and relatively poor knowledge scores at baseline, which improved postintervention. Student feedback about the module was positive.

Exploring healthcare professionals' knowledge, attitude, and practices towards pharmacovigilance: a cross-sectional survey

Background

Spontaneous reporting of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) is a method of monitoring the safety of drugs and is the basic strategy for the post-marketing surveillance of the suspected drugs. Despite its importance, there is very little reporting of ADRs by healthcare professionals. The present study has evaluated the knowledge, attitude and practices of health care professionals (HCPs) regarding pharmacovigilance activities in Lahore, Pakistan.

Methods

A cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey was employed, and a convenience sampling was opted to collect the data among physicians, pharmacists and nurses working in tertiary care public hospitals of Lahore, Pakistan from September 2018 to January 2019.

Results

Of the 384 questionnaires distributed, 346 health care professionals responded to the questionnaire (90.10% response rate). Most participants had good knowledge about ADR reporting, but pharmacist had comparatively better knowledge than other HCPs regarding ADR (89.18%) pharmacovigilance system (81.08%), its centres (72.97%) and function (91.89%). Most of the participants exhibited positive attitude regarding ADR reporting, such as 49.1% of physicians (P < 0.05), 70.2% pharmacists and 76.1% nurses showed a positive attitude that they are the most important HCPs to report an ADR. About 64.3% of physicians (P < 0.05) emphasized that consulting other colleagues is important before reporting an ADR. Of all, 77.7% physicians, 75.7% pharmacists and 68% of nurses had positive attitude that ADR reporting is a professional obligation and 67.6% of the pharmacists stated that they have reported ADRs in their workplace and 77.2% nurses have verbally reported ADRs to the concerned personnel or department.

Conclusion

Among all HCPs, pharmacists had better knowledge about ADR reporting and pharmacovigilance. All HCPs had positive attitude and inclination towards ADR reporting. The discrepancies were observed in the practices related to ADR reporting, whereas most of the participants including physicians and nurses did not report any ADR. Based on the above, strategies are needed to educate, train, and empower the HCPs in the domain of pharmacovigilance.

Knowledge, attitude and practice of pharmacists to pharmacovigilance and adverse drug reactions reporting process: a cross-sectional study in Kosovo

Pharmacovigilance (PV) and drug safety monitoring have an essential role in protecting public health. A cross-sectional study evaluated pharmacist knowledge, attitude and practice toward PV and adverse drug reactions (ADRs) reporting. The structured validated questionnaire was distributed to 550 randomly selected pharmacists in the whole Kosovo region. 405 out of 550 pharmacists responded to the questionnaire. Most pharmacists have insufficient knowledge about pharmacovigilance and the ADRs reporting process. The main reasons for under-reporting were little knowledge of pharmacovigilance and adverse reporting process, lack of time, and lack of infrastructure. However, pharmacists showed a positive attitude and stated that they would practice pharmacovigilance if they receive the training. There is a necessity to intensify communication among all stakeholders involved in PV. In addition, continuous training and education are needed to increase pharmacist's awareness and knowledge of PV and their participation in the ADRs reporting process. Keywords: Pharmacovigilance, adverse drug reaction, knowledge, attitude, practice, pharmacists, Kosovo

Pharmacovigilance in healthcare education: students' knowledge, attitude and perception: a cross-sectional study in Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND

Medication safety and pharmacovigilance (PV) remains as an important discipline worldwide. However, there is a significant lack of knowledge of PV and adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting among students in the healthcare field. Thus, this study is aimed to measure knowledge, attitude, and perceptions and compares it between healthcare students (i.e., medicine, dentistry, and nursing).

METHODS

A cross-sectional study involving 710 undergraduate healthcare students from different universities in Saudi Arabia was conducted. A validated structured pilot-tested questionnaire was administered to the participants to assess their knowledge, attitude, and perceptions towards PV and ADRs reporting. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the study findings. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 21.

RESULTS

Overall, the study found that 60.8 and 40.0% of healthcare students correctly defined PV and ADRs respectively. Most students showed positive attitudes and perceptions towards PV and ADRs reporting. PV knowledge, attitude, and perceptions towards PV were significantly higher among pharmacy students as compared to other healthcare students. Only 39% of healthcare students revealed that they have received any form of PV education and 49% of them indicated that PV is well covered in their school curriculum. Pharmacy students are more trained in their schools to report and have performed ADRs reporting in their school as compared to other healthcare students.

CONCLUSIONS

Pharmacy students have better knowledge, attitude, and perception towards PV and ADR reporting in comparison to other healthcare students. The study clearly describes the need for integrating pharmacovigilance education in Saudi healthcare schools' curriculums to prepare them for real-world practices and workplaces.

The comparative assessment of awareness, perspective, and basic practice skills about the Saudi pharmacovigilance system among students of different health-care professionals of a Saudi Female University

INTRODUCTION

The low reporting of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in Saudi Arabia is prevalent among health-care professionals and is responsible for poor ADR signal detection. Therefore, all healthcare institutes connected with patient concern require joint and sustained efforts to strengthen ADR reporting by providing harmless and efficient medication.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The current study was performed to estimate the awareness corresponding to the knowledge, perspective, and basic practice skills about the Saudi pharmacovigilance system among students of different health-care professionals of a Saudi Female University.

MATERIAL & METHODS

A questionnaire was planned and standardized by a thorough literature review. Questions were classified: Group 1 had ten knowledge-based, group 2 five attitude-based, and group 3 four basic practice skills-based questions of pharmacovigilance (PV). Also, determinants that hindered them from becoming part of the pharmacovigilance program were reported. Such 600 questionnaires were distributed among the interns, final and prefinal year students of different health care professionals of Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh. The participants' awareness and practice skills were graded in 3 categories as unacceptable, inadequate, and adequate, depending upon the mean score along with identification of their type of perception towards PV. The data was interpreted by calculating the frequencies, one-way ANOVA, and by post-hoc Tukey-Kramer HSD multiple comparison test.

RESULTS

Five hundred ninety-two questionnaires were statistically investigated. Students' awareness and basic practice skills of pharmacovigilance were found to be inadequate, but positive perception towards PV.

CONCLUSION

Our study showed that awareness and practice skills of PV among students of different health care professionals stand insufficient but favourable perceptions towards PV. Regular educative interventions can increase these parameters of pharmacovigilance.

Physicians' Understanding and Practices of Pharmacovigilance: Qualitative Experience from A Lower Middle-Income Country

Developed countries have established pharmacovigilance systems to monitor the safety of medicines. However, in the developing world, drug monitoring and reporting are facing enormous challenges. The current study was designed to explore the challenges related to the understanding and practices of physicians in reporting adverse drug reactions in Lahore, Pakistan. Through the purposive sampling technique, 13 physicians were interviewed. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed for a thematic content analysis. The thematic content analysis yielded six major themes: (1) Familiarity with medication safety and adverse drug reaction (ADR) concept, (2) Knowledge about pharmacovigilance activities, (3) Practices related to ADR reporting, (4) Barriers impeding ADR reporting, (5) Acknowledgement of the pharmacist’s role, and (6) System change needs. The majority of the physicians were unaware of the ADR reporting system; however, they were ready to accept practice changes if provided with the required skills and training. A lack of knowledge, time, and interest, a fear of legal liability, poor training, inadequate physicians’ and other healthcare professionals’ communication, and most importantly lack of a proper reporting system were reported as barriers. The findings based on emerging themes can be used to establish an effective pharmacovigilance system in Pakistan. Overall, physicians reported a positive attitude towards practice changes, provided the concerned authorities support and take interest in this poorly acknowledged but most needed component of the healthcare system.

Pharmacovigilance Perception and Knowledge Among Pharmacists and Interns in Saudi Arabia

Aim

The aim of this study was to determine and compare the level of knowledge and perception of ADRs reporting and pharmacovigilance among interns and hospital pharmacists in different health-care settings in Saudi Arabia.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted among pharmacists and pharmacy interns in different hospitals in Saudi Arabia. A total of 315 participants completed the self-administered and validated questionnaire during the period from August 2018 to March 2019.

Results

There was poor perception and knowledge of pharmacovigilance and ADRs reporting among pharmacists as well as intern pharmacists. However, pharmacists had better knowledge score compared to interns (P=0.043). Most of the respondents believed that ADRs reporting is important. The majority of both interns and pharmacists stated that they did not receive adequate education about pharmacovigilance during their undergraduate or internship program.

Conclusion

There is a gap in knowledge and perception about pharmacovigilance among practicing pharmacists and new pharmacy graduates. Drug safety fundamentals and policies should be taught to undergraduate pharmacy students in Saudi Arabia.

Awareness, knowledge, attitude and practice of adverse drug reaction reporting among health workers and patients in selected primary healthcare centres in Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria

BACKGROUND

Higher incidence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) is a global health problem requiring attention of all stakeholders regardless of the practice settings. This study therefore aimed to evaluate awareness, knowledge, attitude and practice of ADR reporting among health workers and patients in 10 primary healthcare centres (PHCs) in Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria.

METHODS

Questionnaire-guided cross-sectional survey among 80 health workers and 360 patients enrolled from the selected PHCs between October and December 2018. The semi-structured questionnaires generally comprised open-ended and closed-ended questions to explore general knowledge and awareness of ADRs and pharmacovigilance, while other question-items evaluated attitude towards ADR reporting and ADR reporting practice. Overall percent score in the knowledge and attitude domains for the health workers was developed into binary categories of > 80 versus ≤80% for "adequate" and "inadequate" knowledge, as well as "positive" and "negative" attitude, respectively. Data were summarised using descriptive statistics, while Chi-square test was used to evaluate categorical variables at p < 0.05.

RESULTS

Overall, 58(72.5%) health workers had heard of pharmacovigilance, but only 3(5.2%) correctly understood the pharmacovigilance concept. Twelve (15.0%) showed adequate knowledge of ADRs, while 37(46.2%) demonstrated positive attitude towards ADR reporting. Thirty (37.5%) health workers had come across ADR reporting form, while 79(98.8%) expressed willingness to report all ADRs encountered. Of the patients, 31(8.6%) had heard of pharmacovigilance, 143(39.7%) correctly cited ADR definition, while 67(18.6%) reported the previously experienced ADRs. Informing healthcare professional (38; 38.8%) was the most common measure taken by patients when they experienced reaction(s). Nurses significantly had adequate knowledge of ADRs (p < 0.001) compared to other cadres.

CONCLUSIONS

Health workers in the selected PHCs were largely aware of pharmacovigilance but show low level of knowledge about ADRs and pharmacovigilance concept, with moderately positive attitude towards ADR reporting. Patients on the other hand demonstrate low level of awareness of pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting, with less than one-fifth who reported the previously experienced ADRs. This perhaps underscores a need for regular mandatory education and training on ADRs/pharmacovigilance concept among the PHC health workers, while continuous public enlightenment and awareness campaign on spontaneous reporting of ADRs is advocated in order to enhance reporting rate.

Health-care Professionals' Knowledge and Perception of Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting and Pharmacovigilance in a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital of Nepal

Background: Underreporting of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) is common globally, and Nepal is not an exception to this. Health-care professionals (HCPs) play a vital role in reporting ADR during routine practice. Lack of knowledge and awareness about pharmacovigilance and reporting ADRs among HCPs may contribute to underreporting. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the knowledge and perception of HCPs regarding ADR reporting and pharmacovigilance in a tertiary care teaching hospital in, Nepal. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted. A questionnaire was distributed to 215 HCPs (medical doctors, nurses, and pharmacists) between March and September 2018. Knowledge and perception regarding ADR reporting and pharmacovigilance were studied. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 21.0 (IBM Corp, Armonk, New York). Results: The HCPs included 75 medical doctors, 126 nurses, and 14 pharmacists. Majority of the participants were female (67%), and the majority of participants were not aware of pharmacovigilance. Among the participants, pharmacists were found to have better knowledge regarding pharmacovigilance. However, other HCPs (doctors and nurses) strongly agreed about the necessity of having adequate knowledge about pharmacovigilance. Out of 215, 57.7% agreed that the important benefit of reporting ADR was to identify safe drugs and improve patient safety. The main reasons for not reporting were - ADR reporting was not widely promoted by relevant authorities (47%), followed by not knowing where and how to report ADR (34.9%). However, other HCPs (doctors and nurses) strongly agreed about the necessity of having adequate knowledge about pharmacovigilance. Conclusions: The knowledge of HCPs on ADR reporting and pharmacovigilance was poor. Despite a low knowledge of ADR reporting and pharmacovigilance among HCPs, there was a positive perception that ADR reporting is necessary and ADR monitoring system should be established in the hospital. This study also highlights a need for future intervention studies focusing on educating HCPs about ADR and pharmacovigilance.

Overview of pharmacovigilance practices at the largest academic healthcare system in the State of Qatar

Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) are major global concern, adversely impacting patient safety and health outcomes. ADRs cause significant morbidity and mortality among hospitalised patients, causing greater length of hospital stay, increased healthcare costs and patient dissatisfaction to the treatments. Pharmacovigilance (PV), a process of detecting, monitoring and preventing drug-related harm, plays a vital role to ensure patient safety. ADR reporting is the cornerstone of PV. PV practices in Qatar are relatively new and are evolving rapidly. The purpose of this article is to explore the medication safety practices (notably ADR reporting) at the largest academic healthcare center in Qatar. The article further provides evidence on how information related to ADRs are generated and interpreted. Furthermore, it describes how a designated center for monitoring medication safety activities was established at the largest healthcare provider in Qatar.