Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring And Reporting Among Physicians And Pharmacists In Pakistan: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background : The success of a reporting system of adverse drug reaction (ADR) depends on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the health care professionals. However, due to a lack of knowledge and poor contribution by healthcare workers, ADR remains underreported. To im- prove safety, proper identification and ADR reporting is necessary. Objective : This study was carried out to determine knowledge, attitude, and practices of ADR among physicians and pharmacists working in Pakistan and the factors which encourage and dis- courage effective reporting. Methods : A cross-sectional study was conducted using a pretested questionnaire. Questionnaires were distributed among 333 physicians and 34 pharmacists with a 95.5% response rate. The Statis- tical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used for data analysis. Results : Pharmacists have more knowledge regarding ADR compared to physicians (47.1% vs . 13.8%, p < 0.001). Pharmacists also have a positive attitude compared to physicians (97.1% vs . 76.3%, p < 0.001). No significant difference was noticed in ADR practice by physicians and phar- macists (12.3% vs . 11.8, p = 0.92). The seriousness of ADR was the main factor that encouraged nearly all pharmacists to report, whereas among physician?s, seriousness and the unusualness of re- action, the new drug involvement, and confidence in diagnosis were the factors which encouraged them to report ADR. Conclusion : Overall, pharmacists had more knowledge and a positive attitude regarding ADR re- porting compared to physicians, but practices of ADR reporting remained the same among both. Therefore, it is suggested that educational interventions, along with training programs, should be developed.