Evaluation of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices about Pharmacovigilance among Community Pharmacists in Qassim, Saudi Arabia

Suhaj Abdulsalim (), Maryam Farooqui, Mohammed Salem Alshammari, Meshal Alotaibi, Abdulfattah Alhazmi, Abdulmajeed Alqasomi and Waleed Mohammad Altowayan
Additional contact information
Suhaj Abdulsalim: Department of Pharmacy Practice, Unaizah College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Buraydah 52571, Saudi Arabia
Maryam Farooqui: Department of Pharmacy Practice, Unaizah College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Buraydah 52571, Saudi Arabia
Mohammed Salem Alshammari: Department of Pharmacy Practice, Unaizah College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Buraydah 52571, Saudi Arabia
Meshal Alotaibi: Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, University of Hafr Al Batin, Hafr Al Batin 39524, Saudi Arabia
Abdulfattah Alhazmi: Clinical Pharmacy Department, College of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah 24381, Saudi Arabia
Abdulmajeed Alqasomi: Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Buraydah 52471, Saudi Arabia
Waleed Mohammad Altowayan: Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Buraydah 52471, Saudi Arabia

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 4, 1-14

Abstract: Background: Pharmacovigilance (PV) is an essential activity to detect adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and ensure patient safety. Hence, we aimed to evaluate knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding PV among community pharmacists in Qassim, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted by using a validated questionnaire after obtaining ethical approval from the Deanship of Scientific Research, Qassim University. The sample size was calculated based on the total number of pharmacists in the Qassim area by using Raosoft, Inc. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20 was used for data entry and analysis. Ordinal logistic regression was performed to identify the predictors of KAP. A p -value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 209 community pharmacists participated in the study; 62.9% of them defined the PV correctly, and 59% of them defined ADRs correctly. However, only 17.2% knew where to report ADRs. Interestingly, the majority of participants (92.9%) reported that it is necessary to report ADRs, and 73.8% of them were willing to report ADRs. A total of 53.8% of the participants identified ADRs during their careers; however, only 21.9% reported ADRs. Barriers discourage ADR reporting; the majority of the participants (85.6%) do not know how to report ADRs. Conclusion: Community pharmacists who participated in the study were knowledgeable about PV, and their attitude towards reporting ADRs was highly positive. However, the number of reported ADRs was low because of the lack of knowledge on how and where to report ADRs. Continuous education and motivation about ADRs reporting and PV are warranted among community pharmacists for the rational use of medications.

Keywords: adverse drug reaction reporting; community pharmacists; pharmacovigilance; Saudi Arabia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/4/3548/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/4/3548/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:4:p:3548-:d:1071538

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().