Impact of training on Nigerian healthcare professionals' knowledge and practice of pharmacovigilance

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Pharmacovigilance is the science and activities relating to the detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects or any other possible drug related problem.. The effectiveness of this system revolves on the active participation of the healthcare practitioners. Poor knowledge and practice of pharmacovigilance has necessitated training of healthcare professionals in different parts of Nigeria. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study are to determine the knowledge and practice of pharmacovigilance amongst health professionals in Nigeria and the impact of previous training in pharmacovigilance on their knowledge and practice. METHODS: In this descriptive cross sectional study, purposive and systematic random sampling method was used in selecting health facilities and health care practitioners respectively. Data were collected using a three-part peer-reviewed structured questionnaire administered through electronic mail (25) and self administration by healthcare professionals (316). RESULTS: Respondents who had received training on pharmacovigilance had better knowledge of correct definition of pharmacovigilance (P = 0.001) and better theoretical knowledge and practice scores of pharmacovigilance (P = 0.001). Receiving quarterly newsletters was not significantly associated (p = 0.220) with improved knowledge of pharmacovigilance. Overall, knowledge and practice of pharmacovigilance in Nigeria was still below average. The main challenges faced in the reporting and detecting of ADR were lack of awareness, poor communication, lack of continuity in training and poor funding. CONCLUSION: Although training was associated with improved knowledge and practice of pharmacovigilance amongst the health care providers studied, its overall impact was mild. Strengthened awareness creation and innovations in PV training methods are necessary to improve the efficiency of the program.

Doing No Harm? Adverse Events in a Nation-Wide Cohort of Patients with Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis in Nigeria

“…The completed forms were collected and signed by the pharmacists and then dispatched as individual case safety reports (ICSRs) [ 28 ] to the NTBLCP, NPC and the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria. In this study, we focused on AEs reported during the intensive phase since the patients were on admission at this time and were under observation by the health workers.…”

Knowledge of and Perspectives on Pharmacovigilance among Pharmacists in the Miyagi and Hokkaido Regions of Japan

“…Even among pharmacists who did not understand the term "pharmacovigilance", more than 74% of the respondents believed that pharmacists are responsible for pharmacovigilance, and 65% wished to obtain more information. Previous studies in foreign countries found that many pharmacists consider pharmacovigilance to be important and want to receive pharmacovigilance training [6,9,10] reported that although its overall impact was mild, pharmacovigilance training was associated with improved knowledge and practice of pharmacovigilance among various health care providers. Therefore, additional knowledge and information regarding pharmacovigilance should be encouraged in undergraduate and postgraduate pharmacy curriculum in Japan.…”

Knowledge, perception and determinants of utilization of pharmacovigilance services among healthcare practitioners in Abuja

“…This agreed with other studies. (25,26) in which training was shown to have a mild impact on the o v e r a l l k n o w l e d g e a n d p r a c t i c e o f pharmacovigilance among health care providers. (25) The strength of this study lies in its inclusion of more groups of healthcare practitioners.…”

“…(25,26) in which training was shown to have a mild impact on the o v e r a l l k n o w l e d g e a n d p r a c t i c e o f pharmacovigilance among health care providers. (25) The strength of this study lies in its inclusion of more groups of healthcare practitioners. However our findings should be interpreted with caution as this study is an institutional based study, as varying results could be obtained if the same study is carried out in the community or other health care settings such as primary and secondary healthcare facilities.…”