Knowledge, attitude and practice of health care professionals towards adverse drug reaction reporting in a South Indian teaching hospital

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are one of the common causes of morbidity and mortality. Hence doctors and nurses should have adequate knowledge about identification, treatment and reporting of ADRs. To assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of health care professionals towards ADR reporting, a cross-sectional, observational, questionnaire-based study among doctors and nurses working in a South Indian teaching tertiary hospital was carried out. The questionnaire was given to 300 health care professionals including consultants, postgraduates and nurses. Of the total 250 respondents 24.8% were consultants and 35.2% were postgraduates, while the rest 40% were nurses. The mean KAP score for consultants, postgraduates and nurses was 27.21 ± 4.69, 23.33 ± 4.99 and 14.60 ± 5.05 respectively. The most important factor for doctors not reporting an ADR was lack of time to look for an ADR (86%) and to fill an ADR form (68.7%) whereas, for nurses the correctness of an ADR was the primary concern (41%). Hence, training and motivation of health care professionals towards ADR reporting is of utmost importance for success of pharmacovigilance programme and in minimizing ADR related morbidity and mortality.