Knowledge, attitude, and practice study of pharmacovigilance in a dental teaching institute in Western India

Abstract

Background India started the National Programme of Pharmacovigilance in 2005, which was renamed as Pharmacovigilance Programme of India in 2010. This is the main portal for detecting and reporting the adverse effects of drugs. Aim This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of pharmacovigilance (Pv) in a dental teaching institute in Western India. Materials and Methods The KAP questionnaire regarding Pv was distributed among the dental faculties. The knowledge-based questions were corrected and the scoring was given as excellent knowledge, good knowledge, fair knowledge, and poor knowledge for the scores between 0–5, 6–10, 11–15, and 16–20, respectively. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed which is presented as frequencies (n) and percentages (%) in all three sections of the questionnaire. Results and Observations The knowledge of 24 (44%) participants was found to be fair with scores between 6 and 10. The knowledge of 23 (42%) participants was found to be poor with scores between 0 and 5 and the knowledge of 8 (14%) participants was found to be good with scores between 11 and 15. A positive and promising attitude was exhibited by the dental faculties toward reporting adverse drug reactions (ADRs). Only two study participants had reported an ADR event. Conclusion The deficiencies in knowledge appear to be the underlying factor for the underreporting of adverse reactions encountered by dental practitioners.

Keywords

• adverse drug reactions
• monitoring
• pharmacovigilance
• reporting