Assessment of the Knowledge of Pharmacovigilance among Medical Students
Abstract
Safety of drug is very important. Pharmacovigilance Programme is there in India to reports any adverse reaction of drugs (ADRs). So this study was conducted to assess the knowledge of interns regarding pharmacovigilance. This cross sectional study was conducted at medical colleges of Rajasthan during the period of Oct. 2017 to April 2018. For this study, 150 medical students of internship were enrolled. Clearance from institutional ethical committee was taken prior to the study and written informed consent was taken from all the study participants. Knowledge of these intern students was assessed by a predesigned semi structured questionnaire. In the present study, 64% medical students gave correct response regarding the definition of pharmacovigilance. 65% students were aware that the most important purpose of pharmacovigilance is to identify safety of the drug. Only 42% of students were aware regarding the existence of a Pharmacovigilance Programme in India. 60% of interns were aware that the regulatory body responsible for monitoring ADRs in India is Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO). 74% interns gave correct answer regarding professionals is responsible for reporting ADRs in a hospital. 95% agreed that ADR reporting is a professional responsibility for them. So it can be concluded that there is a great need to generate awareness regarding Pharmacovigilance among medical professionals and also to promote the reporting of ADRs. Reporting of ADRs is compulsory and it should be made an integral part of the patient care.
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Introduction
Pharmacovigilance word is originated from the Greek word “pharmakon” which refers to drug and from the Latin word “vigilance” which refers to careful or watchful. World Health Organization (WHO) has defined pharmacovigilance as the science and activities relating to understanding, detection, assessment, and prevention of the adverse drug effects1 .
Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity all around the world. It has been reported from the previous researches that approximately 2.6-5.9% of all hospitalization are due to ADRs and almost 30% of hospitalized patients experience an ADR during the period of hospitalization2 .
Conclusion
Present study concludes that although knowledge about pharmacovigilance has increased with time but still it is not at acceptable level. So there is a great need to generate awareness regarding Pharmacovigilance among medical professionals and also to promote the reporting of ADRs. Reporting of ADRs is compulsory and it should be made an integral part of the patient care. Educational intervention can raise the awareness of pharmacovigilance among the health care professionals and this knowledge of pharmacovigilance should be incorporated to the everyday clinical practice.