Knowledge, attitude and practices associated with adverse drug reaction reporting amongst doctors in a teaching hospital

AIM: This study was aimed at investigating the knowledge, attitude and practices associated with adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting among doctors in a teaching hospital. METHODS: A total of 100 doctors working in a teaching hospital were evaluated with a questionnaire for their knowledge, attitude and practices related to ADR reporting and pharmacovigilance programmes. RESULTS: Nearly two third (66%) of the doctors knew the definition of ADR. Only one third (38%, 40%) could correctly define pharmacovigilance and adverse drug event (ADE) respectively. Although 100% of the doctors felt the need for a National Pharmacovigilance Programme (NPP) only approximately three fourth (73%) were aware of the existing programme in India and nearly half of the them (47%) actually knew the current status of the NPP at their institute. Surprisingly only one tenth of the doctors (10%) knew what should be reported. The majority (74.4%) felt that reactions to new drug should be reported and also those reactions that are serious and unusual. Only one third (30%) knew whom to report to and less than half (30%) had actually ever reported an ADR. CONCLUSION: The knowledge of ADRs and how to report them is inadequate among doctors. More awareness should be created regarding the purpose and usefulness of ADR reporting through Continuous Medical Education, training and integration of ADR reporting into the clinical activities of the doctors.