Attitude, knowledge and experience of hospital pharmacists with pharmacovigilance in a region in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study

Purpose: To assess hospital pharmacists’ knowledge of, attitude to, and experience with pharmacovigilance and adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in Al Madinah Al Munawarah region, Saudi Arabia.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from April – June 2015 among hospital pharmacists using a self-administered questionnaire. All pharmacists working in government hospitals and primary care centers in Al Madinah Al Munawarah region were targeted to participate in the study. A total of 130 pharmacists were included in the study. Data analysis was conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 20.
Results: The response rate to the survey was 79 % out of 103 pharmacists. In terms of knowledge about pharmacovigilance, only 56 (54.4 %) correctly identified WHO definition of ADRs, while 53 (51.5 %) of the pharmacists correctly defined pharmacovigilance. Regarding pharmacists’ experience with ADR reporting, less than half (N = 46, 44.7 %) said they have made a suspected ADR report and slightly less than half of the pharmacists (50, 48.5 %) said they are familiar with Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) system of suspected ADR reporting. The majority of the pharmacists (N = 95, 92.2 %) believed that patient safety is the most important goal of suspected ADR reporting. The most common barrier to ADR reporting was lack of pharmacovigilance training (N = 48, 46.6 %).
Conclusion: Pharmacists had insufficient knowledge of, but positive attitude toward pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting. Lack of pharmacovigilance training has been identified as the major barrier to ADR reporting.

Keywords
Hospital pharmacists; Pharmacovigilance; Adverse drug reactions (ADRs); Attitude; Knowledge