ABSTRACT
Background/Introduction: Pharmacovigilance (PV) is very important for monitoring the risk and benefits of pharmaceutical products after they have been released to the market. However, the global quest for safe drug use is hampered by the weak PV systems in many developing countries of the world. In Nigeria, information on the activities of community pharmacists in PV/ADR reporting remains scarce.
Aim/Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate the situation of PV and ADR reporting by community pharmacists in Benin City with specific objectives to determine their knowledge of PV, practice of PV, perceived barriers to PV and need for novel reporting systems towards PV.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 142 community pharmacists in Benin City selected by convenience sampling. Data was collected using a 42 item self-administered, semi-structured questionnaire in five sections. Data analysis was done using IBM SPSS version 29.0. Descriptive statistics were computed using frequencies and percentages. Scoring metrics for knowledge and practice of PV were also pre-determined.
Results: Only 73 (51.4%) of the 142 respondents have ever reported ADRs with majority (36.6%) reporting using the Yellow Form. Despite 135 (95.1%) having ‘good’ knowledge of PV, majority 123 (86.6%) report ADR less than 5 times a year. About 125 (88.0%) believed technological solutions will improve PV and 133 (93.7) were willing to adopt useful technologies. The most frequently mentioned barriers to PV in this study were lack of time and heavy workload (69.0%); and no access to ADR reporting forms (67.6%).
Conclusion: Despite having good knowledge of pharmacovigilance, community pharmacists in Benin City demonstrated poor practice and under-reporting of ADRs. The major barriers to pharmacovigilance indicated were lack of time and heavy workload, and non-availability of ADR reporting forms. Improved training was opined as solutions to the reported barriers. The pharmacists also agreed that technology-based solutions would improve PV and indicated willingness to adopt such solutions.
Keywords: Pharmacovigilance, ADR Reporting, Community Pharmacists, Technology, Yellow forms.
