Abstract

BACKGROUND Drug therapy is a prerequisite in the management of different medical conditions, but one of the major concerns about it is drug related adverse effects. Pharmacovigilance is the science of conducting, assessing, understanding and preventing adverse drug reactions (ADRs). Reporting ADRs is the core of pharmacovigilance. So, this study was conducted with the aim of evaluating knowledge, attitude and practice of pharmacists and nurses about reporting ADR. METHODS A descriptive questionnaire-based study was carried out among 100 nurses and 15 pharmacists working in community pharmacies and Amir-Almomenin and Imam Khomeini hospitals of Zabol. The responses to KAP questionnaire were analysed by SPSS version 18.0. RESULTS Majority of pharmacists and nurses did not have enough knowledge about the context of pharmacovigilance, its classifications, its frequencies as well as national guidelines for reporting ADRs. We found out that the majority of our study population (60 of pharmacists and 63 of nurses) had the experience of detecting ADR but only 13.3 of pharmacists and 22 of nurses had reported it. Reasons for not reporting ADR were as follows: being uncertain that the reaction is drug related, it's legal consequences, routine or known ADRS, being unfamiliar with the process of reporting ADRs and being too busy to report. CONCLUSIONS We observed that our pharmacists and nurses did not have desirable knowledge, attitude and practice towards pharmacovigilance. This fact emphasizes the importance of different corrective interventions as conducting CMEs, workshops, as well as special emphasis on pharmacovigilance in medical, pharmacy and nursing undergraduate and post graduate curriculum and its incorporation in their internship.