Knowledge, attitude, and practice among community pharmacists toward adverse drug reaction reporting and pharmacovigilance: A nationwide survey

Abstract

Background

To enhance the impact of pharmacovigilance on drug safety, it must be integrated into the healthcare system. This study aimed to examine community pharmacists' knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding adverse drug reaction reporting and pharmacovigilance.

Methods

A self-administered, cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted among eligible community pharmacists between July and September 2023. Participants completed online and paper-based questionnaires after providing prior consent. Descriptive and inferential analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS, version 28). One-way ANOVA was used to assess the significance of the association between knowledge, attitude, practice scores, and demographic characteristics.

Results

A total of 239 pharmacists completed the questionnaire (response rate of 67.5 %). Of them, 65.3 % were females. Poor knowledge regarding pharmacovigilance was evident in 66.1 % of participants, while only 11 % demonstrated good knowledge. Attitudes were primarily neutral (72.8 %), and practices were categorized as fair for 41.0 % and poor for 31.0 % of pharmacists. Significant factors influencing adverse drug reaction reporting included years of experience (P = 0.012) and awareness of the pharmacovigilance center (P = 0.000). The serious nature of adverse drug reactions was identified as the key facilitator for reporting (40.5 %), while well-documented adverse drug reactions in the literature (21.2 %) and lack of time (19.5 %) were the primary barriers among pharmacists.

Conclusion

This study emphasizes the potential enhancement of adverse drug reaction reporting among community pharmacists by addressing poor knowledge, neutral attitudes, and barriers like time constraints. Targeted educational interventions and structured reporting frameworks are essential to enhance pharmacovigilance and ensure medication safety.