Knowledge, Attitude and Perception of Physicians towards Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting at King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Mn Al-Arifi,Ay Mayet,Fz Al Ayoubi,M Al-Saadi,S Wajid,Aemisd Babelghaith

doi:10.4314/tjpr.v14i5.22

Abstract

Purpose : To assess the knowledge and attitudes of physicians towards adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting at King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Method : The study was conducted in King Khalid University Hospital (KKUH), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia over a three-month period (April to June 2014). A self-administered questionnaire was delivered to 116 physicians. The questionnaire comprised of close-ended as well as open-ended questions. Descriptive statistics including, frequency distribution and percentages, were used for both demographic data and various responses to the questions. Results : The response rate was 81.09 %. The mean age of the respondents was 33.3 ± 11.49 years. Of the 94 physicians who completed the questionnaire, 88.7 % of them didn’t know about the National Pharmacovigilance Center. Almost all the physicians (95.7 %) were not satisfied by their training in ADRs reporting while half (49.3 %) of the respondents thought that only serious ADRs should be reported. Conclusion : There is a need for more educational and training programs for physicians regarding the pharmacovigilance system and ADRs reporting. More research is needed to study the knowledge and attitudes of other healthcare professionals and in various settings. Keywords : Health care providers, Pharmacovigilance, Adverse drug reactions, Reporting, Knowledge

Highlights

In 1969, the WHO [1] defined Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) as any noxious unintended reaction to a drug which occur at normal doses used in the prophylaxis, diagnosis or the treatment of diseases
In France, an epidemiological study of 2067 adults visiting healthcare centers found that 14.7 % of them suffered from adverse drug reactions [5] while in the UK, it was estimated that 6.8 % of hospital admissions were related to ADRs with a projected annual cost of 847 million dollars [6]
ADRs monitoring is an area of pharmaceutical care which deals mainly with the detection, management and reporting of ADRs of drugs which may result from drugs that is taken in normal dose for prophylaxis, prevention or treatment

Summary

Introduction

In 1969, the WHO [1] defined Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) as any noxious unintended reaction to a drug which occur at normal doses used in the prophylaxis, diagnosis or the treatment of diseases. In Saudi Arabia, data are still limited, in a prospective study the incidence of nonpreventable ADE in a sample of patients admitted to a teaching hospital over 4 months was 6 %; with oral anticoagulants as the most frequently implicated drug class[7]. There is a possibility that ADRs are greatly underreported in Saudi hospitals; in two studies it was found that after the implementation of an intensive pharmacovigilance monitoring program for six months in two departments in a university hospital in the western region of Saudi Arabia, ADRs incidence rate detected has risen from 4.5 and 3.1 % the year before the program implementation to 8.2 and 5.1 %, respectively, detected during the program [9,10]

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