Comparative Perception of Pharmacovigilance by Physicians versus Paramedical Professions in Ivory Coast

Abstract

Objective: To assess the perception of pharmacovigilance by healthcare professionals practicing at the University Teaching Hospital of Cocody (Ivory Coast) in 2017. Methodology: A descriptive and analytic cross-sectional survey has been conducted in 2017 at the University Teaching Hospital of Cocody. This survey involved a sample of healthcare professionals practicing in 17 services who are prescribing medications and gave their oral consent. Results: A response rate of 54.08% (106/196) among physicians versus 43.87% (86/196) for the nurses and 27.61% (21/76) for the midwives. 57.94% (62/107) of paramedics versus 94.33% (100/106) of physicians had already heard about pharmacovigilance, during their basic training (40.18% of paramedics versus 73.58% of doctors). However, the main obstacles to the practice of pharmacovigilance were it teaching hours considered insufficient (94.39% of paramedics versus 75.47% of physicians), the lack of knowledge on the location of the pharmacovigilance unit (80.37% of paramedics versus, 40% of physicians) and the reporting of the adverse drug reactions to a hierarchical supervisor (60.60% of paramedics versus 37.25% of physicians). A regular visit of pharmacovigilance monitors in the hospital services (34.57% of paramedics versus 29.24% of physicians) and the availability of reporting forms (30.84% of paramedics versus 27.35% of physicians) could improve the perception of pharmacovigilance by the healthcare professionals. Conclusion: Our investigational survey has highlighted some factors that may influence the perception of pharmacovigilance by the healthcare professionals in Ivory Coast.