Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting Practices by Health Care Professionals of Karachi, Pakistan: A Qualitative Survey

Abstract

Background: The safety of medications is of utmost concern for public health. In developed countries, adverse drug reaction reporting systems are well established, but in low-income and middle-income countries such as Pakistan, these are under-developed and ignored. The objective of this qualitative survey was to explore the adverse drug reaction reporting practices by health care professionals of Karachi, Pakistan. Materials & Methods: Fifteen health care professionals (HCPs), including physicians, nurses and pharmacists from public, semi-private and private tertiary care hospitals were selected using purposive and snowball sampling for semi-structured interviews. Interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim, and were analyzed using Thematic Analysis. Results: The results showed that almost all HCPs have a good understanding of ADR, but did not know the procedures of ADR reporting to the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP). Usually, the ADR was manually reported, with few hospitals having an electronic ADR reporting system. Barriers to the ADR reporting included a large influx of illiterate patients, over-burdened staff, lack of financial and technological resources, and ineffective administration. Facilitator to ADR reporting was electronic ADR system. Conclusion: These findings would help the policymakers and health administrators to revise existing policies and devise new ones for the adoption of adverse drugs reporting (ADR) systems in hospitals.