Abstract
BackgroundWhile spontaneous reporting (SR) is one of the important public health activities for community pharmacists to guard patients’ safety, very few studies examined educational activities and its effects on knowledge about the SR system in Korea. This study described the association between knowledge of SR and educational activities targeting community pharmacists in Korea.MethodsSelf-administered questionnaires were collected between September 1, 2014 and November 25, 2014. The questionnaires addressed sources of SR knowledge (structured educational programs, personal access to educational resources, and information by social network services) and knowledge about the Regional Pharmacovigilance Center designated for community pharmacists, the legal responsibility clause on the serious event reporting, and the reportable items. The association between the knowledge of SR and the educational activities was evaluated using analysis of variance or chi-squared tests.ResultsOverall, 766 questionnaires demonstrated that mean age and length of career in community pharmacies was 45.7 years and 15.9 years, respectively. A structured educational program was used in 63.1% of the participants followed by a personal access to educational resources (56.3%). An educational program offered by the Korean Pharmaceutical Association was the most frequently mentioned program (56.8%), and no regional disparity in the program between the metropolitan and rural areas was observed. Pharmacists who had personal access to educational resources identified SR knowledge contents less correctly than those who used a structured educational program or both (p < 0.01). In general, pharmacists’ knowledge on reportable items was significantly lower with non-prescription drugs, nutritional supplements, and personal hygiene products as compared to their knowledge on prescription drugs, regardless of the type of education (p < 0.01).ConclusionsKnowledge regarding SR was more likely to increase when a structured educational program was used alone or in combination with other educational methods. Knowledge on reportable items should be reinforced during the continuing education process.
Highlights
While spontaneous reporting (SR) is one of the important public health activities for community pharmacists to guard patients’ safety, very few studies examined educational activities and its effects on knowledge about the SR system in Korea
With concerted efforts made by the government and healthcare professionals in Korea, increased SR activities have been documented since the establishment of the Korea Institute of Drug Safety and Risk Management (KIDS), the government agency responsible for the improvement of pharmacovigilance and comprehensive management of the Regional Pharmacovigilance Centers (RPVCs) across the country [6]
More SR cases from community pharmacists were submitted to KIDS after the active involvement of the Korean Pharmaceutical Association (KPA) designated as a RPVC to collect the SR by community pharmacists nationwide in Korea [3], which could be considered as a successful collaboration between the government and the professional organization representing community pharmacists in Korea
Summary
While spontaneous reporting (SR) is one of the important public health activities for community pharmacists to guard patients’ safety, very few studies examined educational activities and its effects on knowledge about the SR system in Korea. This study described the association between knowledge of SR and educational activities targeting community pharmacists in Korea. The safety information listed in the approved package inserts were mostly based on preapproval studies that included a relatively small number of patients and a short duration of drug exposure [2]. With concerted efforts made by the government and healthcare professionals in Korea, increased SR activities have been documented since the establishment of the Korea Institute of Drug Safety and Risk Management (KIDS), the government agency responsible for the improvement of pharmacovigilance and comprehensive management of the Regional Pharmacovigilance Centers (RPVCs) across the country [6]. The overall reporting rate has increased, there is still room to improve in Korea as the increase was relatively lower than that from other countries, e.g., in the Netherlands, Spain, or Portugal [4]
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