Community pharmacists practice and perceived barriers towards pharmacovigilance in Enugu, Nigeria

Background: The science and activities relating to the detection, assessment, understanding, and prevention of adverse drug effects (ADRs) or any other drug-related problems is known as pharmacovigilance. It a vital tool to monitor the safety, medication and reduce the likelihood of adverse drug event. Weak knowledge of PV has resulted in decreased awareness and reporting of ADRs. Community pharmacist as the first point of contact to the general public seeking medication and counseling, needs to be accessed of the extent of knowledge, attitude and practice to improve overall healthcare system. Aim: To assess the knowledge, attitudes and Barriers of Pharmacovigilance amongst community pharmacists. Method: A cross–sectional survey was conducted among community pharmacists in Enugu metropolis using a well structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data including chi-square testing. Result: Response to study was 96%. Pharmacist knowledge of Pharmacovigilance was high as 97.9% were familiar with the concept of PV and 66.7% have received formal training. The attitude to PV were positive as 95.8% agrees that PV is essential in their practice and are willing to engage in further training on PV. There is poor practice of PV as less than half (52.1%) have never reported ADR and only2.1% who knew where report. Uncertainty about ADR being related to a drug and no knowledge on how to report were common barriers to reporting process. Demographic data of respondents were statistically insignificant with the knowledge on PV among community pharmacists. Conclusion: There were good knowledge and positive attitude towards pharmacovigilance but poor practice . However, uncertainty about the ADR being related to drugs ,inadequate knowledge on how to report, and lack of time were cited as barriers that contributed to the poor practice.