A National Survey of Community Pharmacists’ Viewpoints About Pharmacovigilance and Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

This study assessed the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of community pharmacists regarding pharmacovigilance and adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting system in Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional survey of community pharmacists from different regions in Saudi Arabia was performed through convenience sampling between November 2020 and January 2021. The responses were received from 1,172 community pharmacists. Most respondents (86.7%) were familiar with the National Pharmacovigilance and Drug Safety Center, and 830 (70.8%) knew about the ADR reporting form. The majority (94%) of the respondents agreed with the importance of reporting ADRs for patient care and national health. Although 92.2% of the participants asked their patients about ADRs, 90.2% agreed that more training programs are required to be organized by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority for healthcare professionals on the ADR detection and reporting system. Analgesic agents were the most common drug category for which ADRs were reported (67.4%). The majority (92.1%) of ADRs reportedly occurred in patients with chronic diseases. The study concluded that most community pharmacists in Saudi Arabia are knowledgeable and have good attitudes and practices regarding pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting.

Exploring the knowledge, perception, and practice of community pharmacists in Saudi Arabia toward pharmacovigilance and adverse drug reaction reporting. A nationwide survey

“…This is a cross-sectional assessment of the community pharmacists' knowledge, perception, and current practice toward PV and reporting the ADR to the regulatory health authority in Saudi Arabia (National Pharmacovigilance Center (NPC- SFDA)). Similar to the previous studies, the results of this study have demonstrated that community pharmacists have an adequate level of knowledge regarding PV fields 15 , 16 . However, there was a clear gap in their knowledge in relation to the health authority responsible for the collection and analysis of ADR reports in Saudi Arabia.…”

“…The community pharmacists in the current study demonstrated positive perceptions of the importance of PV and reporting the ADRs, considering it as a professional obligation, which is similar to the previous studies that assessed the attitude of pharmacists in Saudi Arabia 16 and other countries, such as the UK and Australia 12 , 19 . Regarding PV general education, most respondents agreed that PV should be taught in undergraduate pharmacy schools in Saudi Arabia; in fact, several pharmacy schools recently added pharmacoepidemiology courses that encompass PV and medication safety to their new curricula.…”

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