Knowledge, attitudes and practice of adverse drug reaction monitoring among physicians in India

Abstract

Background: Underreporting of ADRs still remains a major obstacle in the complete success of pharmacovigilance programs. In order to improve ADR monitoring, it is thus imperative to assess the current knowledge, attitude, and practices of doctors. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of the healthcare professionals about pharmacovigilance in various tertiary care government teaching hospital vis-a-vis private clinics in West Bengal.Methods: A cross sectional, questionnaire based survey was conducted among healthcare practitioners in several tertiary care government set-ups and private set-ups in the state of West Bengal (India). The study instrument was a pre-validated structured questionnaire designed to obtain information on the knowledge of the ADRs reporting, the attitudes towards the reporting, and the factors that in practice could hinder the reporting among the doctors.Results: About 89.62% public practitioners correctly spotted the WHO definition for pharmacovigilance, while 77.5% of the private practitioners did the same. Only 19.81% of the public practitioners documented a suspected ADR in any surveillance form, while there were only 3.75% private practitioners who documented it. About 59.43% of the physicians in government hospitals published an ADR case report in any medical journal, while 81.25% private practitioners did no.Conclusions: Study revealed lack of time, incentive less extra work load being major factors responsible for ADR underreporting. In order to improve ADR reporting, continuous medical education, training and proper sensitization of healthcare professionals can help combating the existing scenario and promising an improved tomorrow. The PvPI should be widely publicized in the visual and print media to make health professionals, as well as the general population at large aware of its presence and scope. Pharmacovigilance should be integrated in undergraduate and postgraduate medical courses.

knowledge-practices-attitudes-towards-adverse-drug-reaction-reporting-among-public-healthcare-professionals-in-west-pahang

“…Among public practitioners, only 19.81% documented a suspected ADR using any surveillance form, while the percentage was even lower for private practitioners at 3.75% [8]. Around 59.43% of physicians in government hospitals published ADR case reports in medical journals, and this figure was much lower in private practice settings, a mere 18.75% did so [8].…”

“…Healthcare professionals should consider ADR reporting as their professional responsibility because the efficient ADR reporting scheme is important in improving patient care and safety [4]. According to a study by Sen S et al in evaluating knowledge, attitude, and practice with regards to pharmacovigilance among physicians in India, approximately 89.62% of public practitioners correctly identified the WHO definition of pharmacovigilance, whereas only 77.5% of private practitioners achieved the same accuracy [8]. Among public practitioners, only 19.81% documented a suspected ADR using any surveillance form, while the percentage was even lower for private practitioners at 3.75% [8].…”

“…According to a study by Sen S et al in evaluating knowledge, attitude, and practice with regards to pharmacovigilance among physicians in India, approximately 89.62% of public practitioners correctly identified the WHO definition of pharmacovigilance, whereas only 77.5% of private practitioners achieved the same accuracy [8]. Among public practitioners, only 19.81% documented a suspected ADR using any surveillance form, while the percentage was even lower for private practitioners at 3.75% [8]. Around 59.43% of physicians in government hospitals published ADR case reports in medical journals, and this figure was much lower in private practice settings, a mere 18.75% did so [8].…”

“…Previous studies have shown ADR to be under-reported globally [8,9,12,16]. It was therefore worth investigating the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice in ADR reporting among healthcare professionals in West Pahang.…”