Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting By Doctors in a Developing Country: a Case Study from Ghana

Abstract

This paper reviewed an original article written by Sabblah et al on the adverse drug reaction reporting by medical doctors in a region in Ghana in 2012 but article originally published in 2014. This review was to summarize and critique the content of the study and state possible recommendations. In critiquing, the authority, accuracy, currency and objectivity of the study were assessed. The study's relevance, stability and graphs/tables were also assessed. In the article there were no recommendations or limitation to the study itself, recommendations were however made for improving spontaneous reporting. The results cannot be generalized so further studies are recommended in a national scope. All over the world, spontaneous adverse drug reaction reporting is the mostly used method of monitoring the safety of drugs. This method is challenged with underreporting by healthcare professionals. The original article seeks to assess the knowledge of doctors about the adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting system in Ghana, the rate of reportage and the attitude of the doctors on spontaneous reporting of ADRs. The method used was a cross-sectional survey and a selfadministered questionnaire was used to collect data.