Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Pharmacovigilance and Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting Among Patients in Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Maiduguri

Abstract

Abstract
Psychotropic drugs are psychoactive medications used to manage mental illnesses. Despite their usefulness in psychiatric settings, they can be associated with significant level of morbidity and mortality owing to their adverse effects. Practically, no drug can be absolutely devoid of adverse effects, but their use has to be associated with an acceptable risk-benefit ratio. Reporting of adverse drug reactions (ADR) to a relevant authority is one of the methods of enhancing medication safety. This study therefore aimed to assess awareness, knowledge, attitude and practice of ADR reporting among patients in Federal Neuro-psychiatric Hospital Maiduguri.
A cross-sectional survey was conducted among outpatients in Federal Neuro-psychiatric Hospital Maiduguri. Three hundred and seventy patients were enrolled from September to November 2022. A semi-structured questionnaire was used. The questionnaire generally comprised open-ended and closed-ended questions that explored general knowledge and awareness of ADRs and pharmacovigilance, while other question-items evaluated attitudes towards ADR reporting and ADR reporting practices. The overall percentage score in the knowledge and attitude domains for the patients was developed into binary categories of > 60% versus ≤60% for “adequate” and “inadequate” knowledge, as well as “positive” and “negative” attitude, respectively. Data were summarized using descriptive statistics, while Chi-square test was used to evaluate categorical variables at p< 0.05 only. Only 16 (4.8%) of the patients had heard of pharmacovigilance, 35(9.5%) understood ADR, while 102(27.3%) reported previously experienced ADRs. Most patients cited ignorance of the importance of ADR reporting (35.7%) and how to report it (27.3%) as the common reasons for non-reporting.
Patients generally have a low knowledge and awareness of ADR reporting and a poor ADR reporting practice. To enhance ADR reporting, hospital management and other stakeholders should advocate continuous public enlightenment and awareness campaigns on spontaneous reporting of ADRs