Comparison of knowledge, attitude and practices of resident doctors and nurses on adverse drug reaction monitoring and reporting in a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

Background:Lack of knowledge of pharmacovigilance (PhV) and adverse event (AE) reporting culture among the healthcare providers have been identified as major factors for under reporting of AE in developing countries. Hence, this study was planned to assess and compare the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of resident doctors and nurses about PhV and AE reporting.Material and Methods:This cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted to compare KAP of 100 doctors and 100 nurses on PhV and AE reporting.Results:All the respondents felt that AE reporting is necessary and two-thirds were aware of the existing PhV Program of India. Significantly, higher proportion of doctors had correct understanding regarding PhV (P<0.05) and knew what should be reported (P<0.05) but nurses (75%) knew better about where to report (P<0.001). Significantly (P<0.001), more doctors (98%) felt that the patients are benefited by reporting AE. Nurses (96%) felt the need for information on drugs causing AE and their management strategy (P<0.001). Around 60% of all the respondents were in favor of mandatory PhV and feedback on the submitted AE. Doctors (67%) (P<0.05) had a practice of inquiring patients for any untoward outcome of therapy. Higher proportion (P<0.05) of nurses (55%) mentioned that observed AE are recorded in patient's case record, but random screening of 1000 patients’ record did not reveal it. Nurses mentioned that they never reported any AE (P<0.05) and witnessed discussions on ADRs during the ward rounds (P<0.001). All the respondents preferred phone as the convenient method for reporting AE followed by drop box kept in the ward/OPD and felt the need of frequent workshops and continuing medical education.Conclusion:Resident doctors and nurses had good knowledge and awareness on AE reporting and PhV but their practices need to be improved.

Knowledge, attitude and practice of pharmacovigilance among community pharmacists in Delhi, India

“…17,18 Hence, it is imperative to develop task force to monitor and report ADRs to ensure patient safety. A number of studies suggest that as pharmacists have a vast knowledge on drugs and therapeutics hence they can play a pivotal role in the identification, detection, prevention and management of ADRs.…”

Pharmacovigilance: Where Do We Stand?

“…For effective adverse event monitoring, the Indian Pharmaceutical companies are dependent on the experiences shared from these regulated markets, where the drug was already used for many years before coming into Indian market. Because of this reason, Pharmacovigilance system is not that strong in India [6,7,8].…”

Adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting in India: a long way to go

“…Healthcare practitioners have an important role in pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting. 1 Many studies [2][3][4][5][6][7][8] have been conducted to understand the knowledge, attitude and practice of ADR reporting among healthcare practitioners in India. The population surveyed in these studied ranged between 90-1200.…”