Community pharmacists' attitudes to adverse drug reaction reporting

Abstract

Objective — A “demonstration” scheme for adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting by United Kingdom community pharmacists began in April, 1997. The objective of this study was to investigate community pharmacists' attitudes to and knowledge of ADR reporting and the “yellow card” scheme. Method — Structured face‐to‐face interview with community pharmacists, using a prepiloted questionnaire. Setting — Randomly selected community pharmacies within one demonstration scheme area. Key findings — Almost all of the pharmacists (28, 93 per cent) were aware that they were able to report ADRs but only one had done so. Just under half recalled receiving the official information pack and half of these had read it. Reasons given for not submitting reports were lack of information or time, and that most reactions seen were already well‐recognised. Although most pharmacists knew that serious reactions to established drugs should be reported, fewer recognised the need to report unusual reactions to established drugs and reactions to herbal medicines. Few participants knew the reporting criteria for “black triangle” drugs. Reporting on over‐the‐counter (OTC) products was an area specifically identified where it was expected that community pharmacists could “add value” to the previous, yellow card, scheme. It was thus of some concern that 21 pharmacists (70 per cent) agreed that they would be unlikely to report an ADR to a product they had counter‐prescribed for a patient. Few respondents had negative attitudes to the scheme. Most agreed that ADR reporting is important, and a professional role in which pharmacists should be involved. Conclusion — Community pharmacists are supportive of their involvement in ADR reporting. Their concerns about reporting need to be addressed and further publicity given to the scheme if reporting is to increase. Our findings suggest that more research is needed to identify the factors which encourage and inhibit reporting, and that further efforts may be needed to promote ADR reporting.

Reporting Adverse Drug Reactions: Evaluations of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice among Community Pharmacists in UAE

“…This finding was reasonably similar to the observation made in Malaysia where about 59.3% of the participants were not aware of the availability of PV center in their country [31]. On the other hand, the figures in the present study were lower than the figures reported in Saudi Arabia (86.8%) [16], and far higher than figures reported in Holland and in UK [19,32]. In Holland only (1%) CPs were not aware of the availability of national PV Centre [19].…”

Evolving Trends and Future Prospects of Adr Monitoring and Reporting: A Literature Review

“…Community pharmacists have been reported to show a positive attitude toward ADR reporting [17]. Although they were well aware of their role regarding ADR monitoring, reporting of ADRs by community pharmacists was reported quite low [18]. Similar findings of under-reporting of ADRs by community pharmacists were reported in the UK [19].…”

Pharmacy Students’ Knowledge and Perceptions About Pharmacovigilance in Malaysian Public Universities

“…The initial draft of the survey questionnaire was developed using information from the literature about ADR reporting among healthcare professionals [19][20][21][22][23] as well as the findings of our previous qualitative study, which involved interviews with community pharmacists.…”