Knowledge and Perception of Pharmacovigilance and Adverse Drug Reactions Reporting among Healthcare Professional Students

This study aimed to assess knowledge and perception of pharmacovigilance in addition to identifying the plausible barriers for employing an effective ADRs reporting system from the perspective of healthcare students. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted among randomly selected students from five healthcare colleges. The overall knowledge score of 367 respondents was 5.1±2.1 (out of 10) that reflects substantial knowledge deficits in principles of pharmacovigilance and ADRs reporting. College of Pharmacy students and students in the third and fourth academic years demonstrated relatively significant higher knowledge scores (7.3±1.6, 5.5±2.1 and 6.2±2.1, respectively) compared to other students. On the other hand, 99.5% of respondents expressed a pronounced negative perception towards pharmacovigilance with an overall mean score of 22.0±3.9 (out of 50).Although, the vast majority of respondents had unanimously agreed on the importance of ADRs reporting, most of them felt unconfident, because they were either uncertain or unprepared to do so. The major recognized barriers for employing an effective ADRs reporting system were knowledge deficits and insufficient training received during academic and internship stages. In conclusion, this study revealed significant knowledge deficits and negative perception among most healthcare students owning to the lack of awareness and deficiencies in the colleges’ program curricula.