Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

A cross-sectional study on knowledge and perceptions of pharmacovigilance among pharmacy students of selected tertiary institutions in jordan

Rana Abu Farha¹ , Mervat Alsous², Eman Elayeh¹, Dima Hattab³

¹Department of Biopharmaceutics and Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan; ²Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Applied Science University, Amman, Jordan; ³Faculty of Pharmacy, Alzarqa Private University, Zarqa, Jordan.

For correspondence:- Rana Farha Email: ranaabufarha@ju.edu.jo Tel:+96265355000

Received: 18 April 2015 Accepted: 3 September 2015 Published: 31 October 2015

Citation: Farha RA, Alsous M, Elayeh E, Hattab D. A cross-sectional study on knowledge and perceptions of pharmacovigilance among pharmacy students of selected tertiary institutions in jordan. Trop J Pharm Res 2015; 14(10):1899-1905 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v14i10.23

© 2015 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To assess the perceptions and knowledge of pharmacovigilance and adverse drug reactions (ADRs) reporting among Bachelor of Pharmacy (BPharm) and Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students of selected tertiary institutions in Jordan.

Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 434 pharmacy students from three different Jordanian universities was conducted from March - April 2014. During the study period, a validated structured questionnaire was administered to the participants to assess their knowledge and perceptions regarding pharmacovigilance and ADRs reporting process.

Results: Majority of the students had insufficient awareness and lack of knowledge of pharmacovigilance and ADRs reporting with a mean knowledge score of 4/10. PharmD students had better knowledge about pharmacovigilance and ADRs reporting system than the BPharm students (knowledge score of 5.4 versus 3.2, respectively; p < 0.001). Also, higher knowledge scores were recorded for public university and fifth-year students (p < 0.001). About two-thirds of the students expressed a positive attitude toward pharmacovigilance and ADRs issues and agreed that they would be willing to report ADRs during their clerkship programme.

Conclusion: BPharm and PharmD students have insufficient knowledge of the concept of pharmacovigilance and ADRs reporting. There is a need to incorporate pharmacovigilance into pharmacy curriculum in order to increase its awareness among pharmacy students as this will positively impact on their practice and enhance public health.

Keywords: Pharmacovigilance, Adverse drug reactions reporting, Pharmacy students, Knowledge, Perception, Awareness, Attitude