Abstract
The present study was designed to investigate the knowledge and attitude of Pakistani physicians towards adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting. In this study, five hundred and fifty survey forms were distributed among the physicians belonging to different private and public sector clinics and hospitals of Karachi through email or direct correspondence. Two hundred and twenty five physicians provided consent to show their responses for research purposes. Hence, the response rate for filling the questionnaire was 40.9%. Most of the doctors that participated in the study were consultants. The previously validated questionnaire was adopted that sought the demographics of the physicians, their knowledge and attitudes towards ADR reporting. Descriptive statistics were employed to report the response of respondents to questionnaire items. The association of the position and organization on the responses of participants towards ADR reporting was determined by using a chi-square. Majority of the participants (88%) were aware about the ADRs; 31.5% were aware of pharmacovigilance; 7.5% had an access to ADR reporting system; and only 9.7% were informed about the availability of ADR reporting system. Physicians (64%) were considered to be the most qualified health professionals to report ADRs. The knowledge of ADRs among physicians working in different hospitals of Karachi was quite sufficient, but their attitude toward ADR reporting was lacking. Physicians strongly suggested the need of training through frequent continuous medical education sessions to improve reporting.
Key words: ADR reporting, knowledge, attitude, physicians.
