A QUESTIONNAIRE STUDY ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF PHARMACOVIGILANCE AMONG HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS IN THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA
Keywords:
pharmacovigilance, knowledge, healthcare professionalsAbstract
Introduction: The higher incidence of adverse drug reactions (ADR) is a global health problem which requires the attention of all stakeholders. Spontaneous ADR reporting system is a global phenomenon, and the cornerstone of pharmacovigilance activities. Therefore, healthcare professionals play a crucial role in the pharmacovigilance system.
The aim of our study was to evaluate the health workers’ knowledge about pharmacovigilance in the Republic of North Macedonia
Material and method: This study included 400 health workers (100 doctors of medicine, 100 doctors of dental medicine, 100 pharmacists and 100 medical nurses/technicians) employed in public and private healthcare institutions in the city of Skopje. The research was conducted using an anonymous survey questionnaire and the collected data were statistically analyzed using SPSS Statistica v23 for Windows.
Results: Our results showed that pharmacists' knowledge was significantly better than that of other healthcare professionals regarding the definition of the term “pharmacovigilance”, the main goal of the pharmacovigilance, the obligations for reporting adverse drug reactions and the function of the system of pharmacovigilance in our country. In our study, doctors of medicine, although with weaker knowledge than pharmacists, showed a good level of knowledge of the pharmacovigilance system, while doctors of dentistry and nurses/technicians had the least knowledge of this system.
Conclusion: We believe that by predicting the curricula on pharmacovigilance and the adverse drug reactions in the undergraduate studies, adequate knowledge of this system will be provided which will contribute to improving the quality of care for patients and reducing the under-reporting of ADRs.
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