Perspective of undergraduate health-care students on adverse drug reaction and pharmacovigilance

Abstract

Background: Pharmacovigilance (PV) is a crucial field of study everywhere. However, there is a serious knowledge gap regarding PV and adverse drug reactions (ADRs) reporting among health-care students. The aim of this study was to evaluate Libyan health-care students' understanding of PV and reporting of ADRs. Methods: This was a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study conducted among 204 undergraduate health-care students from different universities in Tripoli. The participants' knowledge and perceptions regarding PV and ADRs reporting were evaluated using a validated structured questionnaire that had undergone pilot testing. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the study findings. Results: There was poor knowledge of PV and ADRs reporting among surveyed students. Students' perception outweighed their knowledge, with pharmacy students scoring the highest among all health-care students. The overall awareness and knowledge's score ranged from 13.2% to 89.2%. Conclusion: Integration of PV concepts in the education curriculum, and training of pharmacists in ADRs reporting is very crucial in achieving better drug safety.

Keywords

• adverse drug reactions
• healthcare students
• knowledge
• pharmacovigilance