Knowledge And Attitude Regarding Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting And Associated Factors Among State Pharmacist In Northern Province, Srilanka

Abstract

Abstract – Adverse drug reaction (ADR) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Reporting of ADRs is considered to be an important step to achieve a safe drug use. Reporting of ADR becomes a part of professional obligation of a pharmacist, as expanding of the role towards patient care rather than the dispensing. This study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude regarding ADR reporting and association of socio-demographic and work-related factors among pharmacists working at Public Sector Hospitals in Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is a descriptive crosssectional study which was conducted among 76 pharmacists using validated selfadministered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the data. Association of socio-demographic and workrelated factors on knowledge and attitude was determined by chi-square test and fisher’s extract test. Data were analyzed by using SPSS version 23. The response rate of the study was 88.2% (n=67). The mean age of participants was 35.8 ± 9.3 years and most of them were females (71.6%, n=48). Predetermined cut-off value was used as 70 % to determine the level of knowledge and attitude regarding ADR reporting with help of supervisors. Among participants, 65.2% (n=44) of participants had good knowledge about ADRs and 67.2% (n=45) had positive attitude towards ADR reporting. Extra working hours had statistically significant influence on knowledge on ADR (p=0.048) and working experience showed significant influence on the attitude toward ADR reporting (p=0.03). This study revealed that majority of pharmacists had good level of knowledge and positive attitude towards ADR reporting.