Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting Practices Among United Arab Emirates Pharmacists and Prescribers

Abstract

Underreporting of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) has placed a heavy financial burden on health care resources worldwide. Realizing the importance of proper ADR reporting is paramount for implementing better patient care. This study was designed to assess knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of ADR reporting among United Arab Emirates (UAE) health care professionals to clarify their present strategies and identify steps to avoid underreporting. A self-administered cross-sectional questionnaire was designed and randomly distributed to different health care personnel ( = 150). All participants were briefly informed about the aim of the study and given sufficient time to respond. The responses were collected over 6 months. The data were statistically analyzed for each reporter category (community pharmacist, hospital pharmacist, and doctors) using the chi-square test. We found that 81%, 83%, and 83.3% of doctors, community pharmacists, and hospital pharmacists, respectively, were not aware of the existence of a reporting center and 56%, 60%, and 72% were not aware of a reporting procedure. Poor ADR reporting practices were shown by responders; only 19%, 14%, and 12.1% of doctors, community pharmacists, and hospital pharmacists reported ADRs. This study showed poor KAP results among health care professionals. Proper educational intervention strategies should be established in different health care settings for better patient care. With proper guidance, objectives in all health care settings should be targeted to positively change the concept of health care to consider ADR reporting as a common accepted daily routine practice.

Impact of an educational intervention on knowledge and attitude regarding pharmacovigilance among health professionals working on cancer hospital attached to a regional pharmacovigilance center

“…Drug and Therapeutics Committee (DTC) also plays an active leading role in the advancement of medicine safety and strengthening PV centers at the hospital [46]. Practical training or workshop regarding PV might assist to resolve this up-and-coming problem of underreporting of ADRs at the hospital [47]. A systematic simulated environment and workshop on PV should be conducted for the HCPs (pharmacists, nursing staff, and even medical doctors) and intervallic interaction and interprofessional collaborations should be done to know the difficulties they are facing.…”

Pharmacists' knowledge and perceptions about pharmacovigilance and barriers towards adverse drug reactions reporting in Yemen

“…Issue of under‐reporting of ADRs among healthcare professional was explored by several studies from other nations . In Yemen, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study conducted among pharmacists practicing in both community and hospital settings from five governorates which aimed at evaluating the knowledge, attitude and practice of both community and hospital pharmacists with regard to pharmacovigilance and ADRs reporting, in addition to determine the barriers towards reporting ARDs.…”

“…Issue of under-reporting of ADRs among healthcare professional was explored by several studies from other nations. [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] In Yemen, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study conducted among pharmacists practicing in both community and hospital settings from five governorates which aimed at evaluating the knowledge, attitude and practice of both community and hospital pharmacists with regard to pharmacovigilance and ADRs reporting, in addition to determine the barriers towards reporting ARDs. This issue is critical to ensure an effective pharmacovigilance activity because knowledge of pharmacist will reflect the efficiency of ADRs reporting and thus affect the consequences resulted from under-reporting of ADRs.…”

Pharmacovigilance in perspective: drug withdrawals, data mining and policy implications

“…The results showed that 81%, 83%, and 83.3% of doctors, community pharmacists, and hospital pharmacists, respectively, were unaware that the UAE had an ADR reporting center, and 56%, 60%, and 72% did not know the correct procedure for reporting ADRs. As such, it was noted that only 19%, 14%, and 12.1% of doctors, community pharmacists, and hospital pharmacists reported ADRs 81 . Further studies have shown that 72% of pharmacists and 86.7% of physicians were unaware of the ADR reporting system in UAE 82 .…”