A REVIEW ON THE PERCEPTION AND AWARENESS OF HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS ON PHARMACOVIGILANCE

Abstract

The rising demand for the provision of timely information on the safety and effectiveness of health products to the general public has led to the evaluation of the perception and awareness of healthcare professionals on Pharmacovigilance. In this article review, researchers examine different sources to assess the current state of understanding regarding the perception and cognition of various healthcare professionals, specifically doctors, pharmacists, and nurses, that play a direct role in pharmacovigilance activities. Deliberation on the current perception and awareness of healthcare professionals on Pharmacovigilance exhibits a high percentage of doctors are either fully aware or have heard of Pharmacovigilance. Some articles even reported that practitioners involved in the studies know ADRs and their role in monitoring and writing them. In other studies, despite the high percentage of respondents being aware or having heard of Pharmacovigilance, most need to learn how to report or obtain forms for reporting ADRs. Further studies also included respondents' attitudes toward reporting an ADR, showing that most respondents prefer to report ADRs voluntarily. Moreover, regarding the awareness and perception of pharmacists, most of the articles show that pharmacists have strong awareness regarding ADR reporting due to more knowledge about Pharmacovigilance and are eager to use it in their clinical practice. While other studies also infer that a more significant percentage of pharmacists do not know about Pharmacovigilance. On the other hand, articles discussing nurses concluded that ADR reports by clinical nurses are comparable in quality and number to those submitted by physicians or pharmacists. At the same time, some indicate an insufficient knowledge of ADR reporting procedures. However, most studies concluded that nurses consider ADR reporting significant and are aware of Pharmacovigilance. With these results, the researchers concluded that despite some having a low understanding of ADRs, most healthcare professionals are aware of ADR reporting.