A questionnaire-based study to assess knowledge attitude and practice of pharmacovigilance among doctors in a medical college in Telangana, India

Abstract

Background: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Health-care professionals have the onus of reporting the ADRs. The present study was conducted as an effort to assess the knowledge, awareness, attitude, and practice of Pharmacovigilance in doctors and identifies the possible factors for underreporting of ADRs. The findings of this study may be used to encourage the health-care professionals to report the ADRs. Aim and Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practice of pharmacovigilance and correlate the benefits of training sessions with ADR reporting culture in doctors of a tertiary care institute. Materials and Methods: A pre-tested and validated questionnaire was administered to doctors. The study instrument focused on knowledge, attitude, and practice of pharmacovigilance among the participants. Results: Although knowledge of pharmacovigilance is satisfactory (66 %) among the doctors, awareness of the presence of pharmacovigilance cell in the institute was low (37.5%). The major hindering factor for ADR reporting was lack of knowledge on how to report followed by lack of motivation. Strong correlation was found between pharmacovigilance training and ADR reporting. Conclusion: There is an immense need to improve the awareness of ADR monitoring and inculcates the culture of reporting ADRs. Training the doctors in pharmacovigilance is essential and will lead to overall improvement in the ADR reporting and contribute to success of the pharmacovigilance program of India.