Knowledge, practice, and attitude toward adverse drug reaction reporting among interns at a tertiary health care centre

Abstract

Background: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are an important public health problem in terms of mortality, morbidity as well as costs. However, studies worldwide have shown gross under-reporting with a rate of just 6-10%. Knowledge and attitude of health-care professionals about ADR greatly influence the extent of reporting. Educational interventions such as lectures, CMEs on pharmacovigilance (PvG) have proven to improve the rate of reporting. Hence, this study was conducted among new interns to assess their awareness, attitude, and practice patterns toward ADR reporting. Aims and Objectives: (1) To assess the knowledge and awareness regarding ADR reporting, (2) to assess attitude and practice patterns, and (3) to assess barriers to reporting among interns. Materials and Methods: A validated questionnaire based cross-sectional study was conducted among the medical interns in a tertiary health care center. Data were assessed by frequency, percentage. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 22. Results: Of the 100 interns in the study, more than 80% were aware about who can report an ADR and the type of ADR. 90% knew that ADR can occur with drugs, vaccines and herbal products too. However, 52% did not know about the PvG center or reporting system in the hospital. Only 20% had reported an ADR, the common drug being penicillin. 97% had never filled the ADR notification forms. Conclusion: Knowledge regarding ADRs was found to be adequate with the positive and right attitude toward reporting, but the actual reporting practice was found to be poor and needs to be improved. Hence, it is essential to include lectures on ADR and PvG, hands-on training, CMEs and interactive workshops in the MBBS curriculum, to promote reporting of ADRs, particularly among interns.

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

“…In order to further improve overall KAP among health professionals in West Pahang, educational interventions concerning pharmacovigilance may be necessary. According to Leena et al, ongoing educational interventions, especially with respect to how to identify and report ADRs, are often required to increase KAP scores in ADR reporting [11]. Further studies may be carried out to compare the KAP scores before and after educational interventions among healthcare professionals in West Pahang.…”

“…Most of the respondents knew that doctors, pharmacists, and nurses could report ADRs, while 63% of the respondents could correctly identify the spontaneous reporting system as the most commonly employed method to monitor ADRs [10]. Among interns at a tertiary healthcare centre in India, 52.0% of the respondents did not know about the reporting system in the hospital [11]. Only 20.0% had reported an ADR and 97.0% had never filled out the ADR notification forms [11].…”

“…Among interns at a tertiary healthcare centre in India, 52.0% of the respondents did not know about the reporting system in the hospital [11]. Only 20.0% had reported an ADR and 97.0% had never filled out the ADR notification forms [11].…”