Healthcare professionals’ awareness and knowledge of adverse drug reactions and pharmacovigilance

OBJECTIVES To document the knowledge of, attitudes toward, and practices of adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting and pharmacovigilance systems among healthcare professionals. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted using a questionnaire. This study took place at King Fahd Hospital of the University (KFHU), Khobar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,  between  April 2015 and  April 2016. Healthcare professionals, including physicians, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and nurses, were considered eligible and invited to take part in the study. A link to the online questionnaire was sent to each participant via E-mail, and a hard copy was circulated at the hospital after the objectives of the study were explained. The questionnaire comprised items regarding knowledge/awareness of pharmacovigilance and ADRs, perception/attitude towards pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting, and practices of ADR reporting. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Results: A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed to the healthcare professionals and 331 participants responded, providing a response rate of 82.75%. The healthcare professionals comprised 161 physicians, 39 pharmacists, 21 pharmacist technicians, and 110 nurses. Most of the participants were female (n=198) and Saudi (61.9%). Most healthcare professionals (62.5%) were unaware of the term pharmacovigilance; the pharmacists and pharmacist technicians had the highest rate of pharmacovigilance awareness (60.5% of the pharmacists and 40% of pharmacist technicians). Conclusion: There is a lack of awareness and knowledge of pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting among healthcare professionals working at KFHU.