Knowledge, attitude and practices of pharmacovigilance among the postgraduate and undergraduate medical students in a tertiary care hospital in Central India

Abstract

Background: Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) are one of the underestimated causes of morbidity and mortality. Monitoring of these ADRs is at the core of any pharmacovigilance program. ADR monitoring suffers from lack of reporting from health care personnels. Unless we know the current knowledge, attitude and practices of the budding doctors it’s difficult to design corrective measures to improve reporting. The present study was designed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting among undergraduate and postgraduate medical students.Methods: This was a questionnaire-based, observational study. The questionnaire had six questions each pertaining to knowledge, attitude and practices of pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting. Factors discouraging ADR reporting were also studied. Descriptive statistics were carried out and one-way ANOVA was applied to find the statistical difference between the groups.Results: A total of 288 subjects were approached for the study of which 229 agreed to participate. It was observed that the knowledge of the participants regarding ADR reporting and pharmacovigilance was satisfactory. 68% of respondents felt that educational programmes have a positive effect on ADR reporting. 15% of respondents admitted of having reported an ADR. The mean scores of knowledge, attitude and practices of ADR reporting were considerably higher in postgraduates as compared to undergraduates (p-value <0.05).Conclusions: The study concluded that participants of study were aware of the importance of ADR reporting but it did not reflect in their practices. There is a need to create awareness and to educate these future physicians about Pharmacovigilance.