An Exploration of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices of Physicians toward Pharmacovigilance at Tertiary Care Hospitals in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2021 Sep 7:tpmd210336. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.21-0336. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTDrug safety assures the effectiveness, safety, and security of drugs, vaccines, and other biologicals to protect public health. Medication-related errors coupled with unjudicial medication practices often cause a catastrophic impact on the healthcare system globally. The present study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of physicians toward pharmacovigilance and barriers to adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting at tertiary care hospitals in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, Pakistan. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among registered doctors working in seven tertiary care hospitals from seven administrative divisions of KP province of Pakistan from July 2019 to March 2020. During the study period, 358 physicians who fulfilled the inclusion criteria and agreed to participate completed and returned the validated structured questionnaires. Descriptive and inferential statistics were applied for data analysis. The majority of physicians had poor knowledge (81.3%) regarding pharmacovigilance along with poor reporting practices (94.9%), although (96.5%) had a positive attitude toward ADR reporting. A significant barrier identified was the unavailability of reporting forms (95.9%), whereas mandatory ADR reporting (96.2%) was the major factor to encourage ADR reporting. Physicians aged ≥ 41 and experience ≥ 11 years had significantly more knowledge...
Source: Am J Trop Med Hyg - Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Source Type: research