Awareness, knowledge, and attitude toward adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting among healthcare professionals in Ghana

Abstract

Background: Spontaneous reporting systems are the commonest means of reporting adverse drug reactions (ADRs) worldwide. Under-reporting remains a challenge particularly in developing countries among healthcare professionals (HCPs) who are considered the primary stakeholders in the reporting of ADRs. The challenge with studies in countries such as Ghana is that the focus has been on a single professional group or health facility. This study examines the rate of reporting as well as awareness, knowledge, and attitudes toward ADR reporting across professional groups (doctors, nurses, and pharmacist) and selected health facilities (ownership types: government, quasi-government, and private; hierarchy: district, regional, and teaching) in Ghana. Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted to select and interview 424 healthcare professionals (HCPs) from 8 hospitals in the Greater Accra and Eastern regions of Ghana on issues of ADR reporting, awareness, knowledge, and attitudes toward ADR reporting. Valid responses from 378 HCPs were obtained and analyzed using frequencies and percentages. Findings: The results suggest that about 82.8% of the HCPs interviewed have come across an ADR incidence, but only 52.6% of them have reported such incidence, with pharmacist (66.7%) being the most likely to report. The results further suggest that about 85.8% of HCPs are aware of ADR reporting procedures and display positive attitudes toward same. In addition, the knowledge of HCPs on ADR reporting is low with training being a major area of need. Conclusion: There is the need for healthcare managers and the regulator to pay attention to existing gaps in awareness, attitudes, and most importantly knowledge of HCPs on structures and modalities for ADR reporting. Plain Language Summary Awareness, knowledge, and attitude toward adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting among healthcare professionals in Ghana Reporting of unpleasant reactions related to the use of medicinal products has been very low in less developed countries. Studies conducted in Ghana to examine the reporting of unpleasant reactions associated with the use of medicinal products have focused mainly on one health facility or health care provider group. This article examines the level of awareness, knowledge, and attitudes toward the reporting of unpleasant reactions to the use of medicinal products. The authors used a quantitative method to examine the level of awareness, knowledge, and attitude toward reporting of unpleasant reactions to medicinal products. The study was conducted in eight hospitals in Greater Accra and Eastern regions of Ghana using a structured questionnaire. Only 378 out of 424 healthcare providers returned the completed questionnaire. The findings of the study show that 213 of the healthcare providers have encountered at least one patient with an unpleasant reaction to the use of medicinal products, although only 112 reported the unpleasant reactions. Pharmacists were found to be more likely to report unpleasant reactions as 12 out of 18 pharmacists who responded to the questionnaire indicated that they report the unpleasant reactions seen. In addition, 321 of the healthcare providers knew of the reporting procedures for unpleasant reactions to a medicinal product in Ghana. Only 219 healthcare providers knew of the reporting procedures in the facilities in which they worked, however. Furthermore, the knowledge of healthcare providers on the method of reporting is low.

Underreporting and Triggering Factors for Ophthalmic Drugs’ ADR Notification; a Comparison between Spontaneous Reporting and Active Pharmacovigilance Databases

“…The outcomes of the research show significant rates of underreporting (0.006029% for antiglaucoma and 0.003552% for artificial tear); this indicates a worrying result since the pillar of pharmacovigilance focuses on spontaneous reporting [18]; also, underreporting limits obtaining sufficient data to generate risk minimization activities, representing a significant threat to the population [19]; for this reason, there is a need to encourage reports in pharmacovigilance, especially in ophthalmic due there is evidence that the notification in ophthalmology is less than other medical specialties [20,21]. Additionally, underreporting seems to be selective for some factors like seriousness, severity, gender and unexpected ADRs.…”

Evaluation of health care professionals’ knowledge, attitudes, practices and barriers to pharmacovigilance and adverse drug reaction reporting: A cross-sectional multicentral study

“…These findings were consistent with a previous study conducted in Thailand [ 38 ]. A higher value was reported in Saudi Arabia (71.3%) [ 51 ], Oman (69.2%) [ 52 ], Pakistan (67.6%) [ 17 ] and Ghana (66.7%) [ 53 ]. However, lower proportion of ADR reporting among pharmacist as compared to our findings was observed in Kuwait (26.8%) [ 54 ], Jordan (19.5%) [ 55 ] and Syria (10.8%) [ 56 ].…”

“…In our study, more than half (60.4%) of the HCPs were untrained about PV and ADR reporting. Previous studies conducted in Nigeria (86.5%) [ 27 ], Saudi Arabia (76.3%) [ 80 ], South Africa (68.3%) [ 81 ], Ethiopia (55.5%) [ 15 ], Finland (48%) [ 48 ], and Ghana (37.1%) [ 53 ] reported that various proportion of HCPs had no training on PV and ADR reporting. Our results also showed that lack of training was the predictors of poor ADR reporting practice among HCPs.…”

Underreporting and Triggering Factors for Reporting ADRs of Two Ophthalmic Drugs: A Comparison between Spontaneous Reports and Active Pharmacovigilance Databases

“…The outcomes of the research show significant rates of underreporting (0.006029% for antiglaucoma and 0.003552% for artificial tears); this indicates a worrying result since the pillar of pharmacovigilance focuses on spontaneous reporting [ 18 ]; additionally, underreporting limits the obtainment of sufficient data to generate risk minimization activities, representing a significant threat to the population [ 19 ]; for this reason, there is a need to encourage reports in pharmacovigilance, especially in ophthalmics due to is evidence that the notifications in ophthalmology are reduced compared to other medical specialties [ 20 , 21 ]. Additionally, underreporting seems to be selective for some factors, such as seriousness, severity, gender, and unexpected ADRs.…”