Journal of Patient Care

Knowledge, attitude and practices of pharmacovigilance and adverse drug reaction reporting among pharmacists working in secondary and tertiary government hospitals in Kuwait

World Congress on Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare

September 07-09, 2017 London, UK

Fatemah Alsaleh

Kuwait University, Kuwait

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Pat Care

Abstract:

Introduction: Pharmacovigilance (PV) is essential to detect and prevent adverse drug reactions (ADR) after drug is marketed. However, ADRs are significantly underreported worldwide. Objective: This study aims to document the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of pharmacists towards PV and ADR reporting and to explore the barriers to implement a fully functional PV program in Kuwait. Material & Methods: Pharmacists working at government hospitals were asked to complete a paper-based 25-item questionnaire. Results: A total of 414 pharmacists received the questionnaire and 342 agreed to participate, giving a response rate of 82.6%. Most pharmacists were knowledgeable about the concepts of PV (61.5%) and ADRs (72.6%) and the majority (88.6%) was willing to implement ADR reporting in their clinical practice. Despite this positive attitude, only 26.8% of participants had previously reported an ADR and the main reason for underreporting was stated as not knowing how to report (68.9%). Barriers that hinder the implementation of a PV center included lack of cooperation and communication by healthcare professionals and patients (n=62), lack of time and proper management (n=57), lack of awareness of staff and patients (n=48) and no qualified person to report ADRs (n=35). Conclusions: Overall this study shows that hospital pharmacists in Kuwait had good knowledge and positive attitude towards PV and ADRs reporting. However, the majority of them have never reported ADRs. These results suggest that targeted educational interventions and a well-defined policy for ADR reporting may help increase ADR reporting and support the implementation of a fully functional independent PV center in Kuwait.

Biography :

Fatemah Alsaleh completed her PhD in 2011 at UCL School of Pharmacy, University of London, UK. Since then she has been working as an Assistant Professor at Faculty of Pharmacy, Kuwait University, Kuwait. She has research interest in the use of new technologies for managing chronic diseases in the context of patients/ cares’ daily lives and experiences, community pharmacy services and the potential role of pharmacists to achieve health policy goals and promoting patient safety in different healthcare setting.