A questionnaire-based study to evaluate the basic understanding of pharmacovigilance of the under graduate medical students of a rural teaching hospital

Abstract

Introduction: Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) have presently been greatly contributing to the hospital admissions, prolongation of the hospital stays, visits to the emergency departments, in turn, contributing to the economic burden of healthcare management. Pharmacovigilance is predominantly concerned with ADRs, and drug safety. The basic understanding about pharmacovigilance is essential for future medical professionals as they will come in contact with the patients and can efficiently report the ADRs. Aim: To evaluate the basic understanding about pharmacovigilance and create awareness in medical students of a rural teaching hospital. Materials & Methods: This was a non-interventional questionnaire-based study, where medical students from a rural teaching hospital were included in the study. They were distributed a simple questionnaire related to pharmacovigilance basic knowledge, through google form link, which they had submitted. The data was analysed. Results: Total 92 participants were included in the study. It was found that, 57.8% of these were female and 42.2% were males. Moreover, regarding assessing the basic pharmacovigilance knowledge it was reported that 98.9% were aware about healthcare professionals who can report ADR. Nearly 83.5% were aware about pharmacovigilance. Nearly 70% of the participants had not heard about pharmacovigilance before joining pharmacology lectures. Majority of the participants had never attended any seminar/workshops and agreed to attend in future. Conclusion: The results indicate that the basic understanding about pharmacovigilance is improving and medical student shows interest about creating awareness related to pharmacovigilance, as it is an important aspect of drug safety. However, to further improve their understanding awareness programs for medical student can be conducted.