Medication safety knowledge, attitude, and practice among hospital pharmacists in tertiary care hospitals in Saudi Arabia: a multi-center study

Factors affecting patient safety culture and adverse drug reaction reporting among healthcare professionals in an Indonesian public hospital: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Pharmacovigilance is a global effort to protect patients and public health by detecting and responding to adverse drug reactions (ADRs). However, underreporting is a major obstacle in reporting ADRs. An effective reporting culture is one way to overcome the challenges in ADR reporting.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to determine the factors affecting the patient safety culture related to adverse drug reaction reporting among healthcare professionals in a public hospital in Indonesia.

METHODS

This observational cross-sectional study was conducted by Dr. R. Soedjono Selong Hospital, East Lombok, Indonesia. Data were collected using the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture 2.0, conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and a researcher-developed questionnaire.

RESULTS

Among the 238 healthcare professionals who responded, 60.9% had previously reported ADRs. Age, education, working period, knowledge, perception, facilities, policies, and environment were significantly associated with patient safety culture and ADR reporting. The working period and age emerged as the most influential factors in patient safety culture and ADR reporting, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Age, education, working period, knowledge, perception, facilities, policy, and environment significantly affected the patient safety culture and ADR reporting.

Medication reconciliation: impact of an educational intervention on the knowledge, attitude and practices of healthcare professionals - a prospective quasi-experimental study in a Saudi referral hospital

BACKGROUND

Medication reconciliation has been acknowledged as a key intervention against medication errors. More than half of the medication errors that happen during care transitions are caused by unjustified medication discrepancies and up to one-third of these mistakes may be harmful. The study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of health care providers in on medication reconciliation process, pre and post educational intervention.

METHODS

A hospital-based prospective quasi-experimental pre-post intervention study was conducted from November 2023 to February 2024 among 346 healthcare professionals (medical doctors, pharmacists and nurses) practicing in King Saud Hospital (KSH), Unayzah, Saudi Arabia. The subjects were recruited using the convenience sampling method.An educational intervention workshop was conducted among the healthcare professionals. The KAP was assessed before and after the educational intervention using a content and face validated self-administered questionnaire. The statistical analyses were conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test was used to differentiate the mean response scores for knowledge, attitude, and practice domains, between pre and post intervention. Kruskal Wallis Test followed by Dunn's post hoc test was used to compare the mean response scores for knowledge, attitude and practice domains based on educational qualification and practicing experience for the pre and post-test period. The level of significance is determined at P < 0.05.

RESULTS

There was a significant improvement in the participants' knowledge, attitude and practice after the educational intervention with mean scores of 0.72 (SD = 1.67, p < 0.0001*), 0.76 (SD = 1.97, p < 0.0001*), and 0.56 (SD = 2.05, p = 0.001*) respectively. The overall KAP scores showed a statistically significant enhancement after the education intervention with a mean score difference of 2.04 (SD = 4.76, p < 0.0001*).Our study upholds that MedRec is highly valued by the participants due to its significant role in reducing medication errors and enhancing patient safety, and that it has the ability to recognize medication discrepancies and reduce adverse drug events.

CONCLUSION

The education intervention effectively influenced the knowledge, attitude and practice of healthcare professionals regarding medication reconciliation. This study underscores the importance of continuous education and training for healthcare professionals to minimize medication discrepancies and improve patient care.

Exploring the community pharmacist's knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding adverse drug reactions and its reporting in the United Arab Emirates: a survey-based cross-sectional study

Background

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) contribute significant clinical and economic burden to the country's healthcare system globally. Prompt reporting of ADRs by the community pharmacist is essential to the active pharmacovigilance program.

Objectives

This study assesses private community pharmacists' knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) about ADRs and reporting.

Design

A cross-sectional, qualitative study was performed using a pre-validated self-administered questionnaire.

Methods

This self-administered questionnaire was conducted at community pharmacies between March and July 2022. The data collected were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests to examine the differences in overall KAP scores with a subgroup of sociodemographic characteristics of the study participants. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the predictors of practice.

Results

In total, 156 fully completed questionnaires were collected by the community pharmacists. A positive association between the designation, qualification, and work experience with the total scores of the respondents was observed (p < 0.05). Among the predictors of ADR reporting practice, a significant association was observed with knowledge score (⩾6, p = 0.0219), designation (pharmacists, p = 0.0102), qualification (masters, p = 0.0002), and work experience (⩾11 years, p = 0.0184). Most community pharmacists had good knowledge and attitude but poor practice toward reporting ADRs. Uncertainty of how and where to report, lack of training, lack of reporting forms, and insufficient clinical knowledge were the practice-based barriers in the ADR reporting process.

Conclusion

Though the study found sufficient understanding and favorable views on ADR reporting, participants reported poor practices and barriers to reporting ADR. Therefore, structured continuing professional development programs for community pharmacists are needed to overcome the barriers and enhance the practice of ADR reporting.

Assessment of knowledge, cultural beliefs, and behavior regarding medication safety among residents in Harbin, China

BACKGROUND

Medication misuse or overuse is significantly associated with poor health outcomes. Information regarding the knowledge, cultural beliefs, and behavior about medication safety in the general population is important.

AIM

To conduct a survey on medication habits and explored the potential factors impacting medication safety.

METHODS

The current survey included adults from 18 districts and counties in Harbin, China. A questionnaire on medication safety was designed based on knowledge, cultural beliefs, and behavior. Both univariate and multivariate analyses were used to explore the factors that impacted medication safety.

RESULTS

A total of 394 respondents completed the questionnaires on medication safety. The mean scores for knowledge, cultural beliefs, and behavior about medication safety were 59.41 ± 19.33, 40.66 ± 9.24, and 60.97 ± 13.69, respectively. The medication knowledge score was affected by age (P = 0.044), education (P < 0.001), and working status (P = 0.015). Moreover, the cultural beliefs score was significantly affected by education (P < 0.001). Finally, education (P = 0.003) and working status (P = 0.011) significantly affected the behavior score.

CONCLUSION

The knowledge, cultural beliefs, and behavior about medication safety among the general population was moderate. Health education should be provisioned for the elderly, individuals with a low education level, and the unemployed to improve medication safety in Harbin, China.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices of Egyptian healthcare professionals toward therapeutic drug monitoring service as a principal component of personalized medicine

Aim: To assess pharmacists' and physicians' knowledge, attitudes and practices toward therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) service at the Children's Cancer Hospital Egypt 57357. Materials & methods: This was a single-site cross-sectional study where all practicing pharmacists and physicians were eligible to participate. Results: A statistically significant difference in the knowledge scores between pharmacists and physicians (p = 0.022) was found. In general, attitudes toward TDM among pharmacists and physicians were positive. Regarding practices, pharmacists were more likely than physicians to agree or strongly agree that they have studied some scientific references on TDM (p = 0.034), but more physicians recommend the TDM service (p = 0.046). Conclusion: A multidisciplinary educational program in Egypt for TDM for both medicine and pharmacy staff will improve interprofessional collaboration in the clinical setting, leading to better personalized medication management.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Hospital Pharmacists in Central China Towards Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Healthcare professionals’ knowledge and attitudes towards adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and ADR reporting play a significant role in pharmacovigilance. This study aims to investigate the gap between knowledge and practice in ADR reporting among hospital pharmacists.

Methods: This study is a multi-center, cross-sectional study based on a questionnaire survey. A semi-structured questionnaire was developed including knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) towards ADR reporting. From October to November 2021, questionnaires were filled out on the internet by hospital pharmacists from a central province of China. The data analysis used a one-way ANOVA to analyze the differences between the pharmacist’s characteristics and knowledge and attitude, respectively. The ordinal logistic regression method was used to analyze the predictors of practice.

Results: A total of 1,026 valid questionnaires from 512 medical institutions were collected. It was found that 88.8% of participants have a clear understanding of the ADR definition, while 59.6% of them have misunderstandings about the reporting time of new and serious adverse reactions. Most pharmacists showed positive attitudes towards ADR reporting. Higher education background, higher professional title, attending training, and clinical pharmacist resulted in higher knowledge scores. Higher education background, shorter working years, attending training, and from non-tertiary hospital related to higher attitude scores. In terms of practice, age, hospital type, working years, training, and pharmacist type all have significant associations with practice scores. Pharmacists’ knowledge score and attitude score were significant predictors of practice score with OR being 1.19 (95% CI: 1.06, 1.33) and 1.04 (95% CI: 1.005, 1.07).

Conclusion: Although most hospital pharmacists showed positive attitudes towards ADR reporting, their knowledge and practice were still insufficient. Hospital pharmacists’ knowledge and attitude are associated with their practice towards ADR reporting. The training had a significant impact on the pharmacist’s knowledge, attitude, and practice.

An investigation of pharmacovigilance and reporting of adverse drug reactions in hospitals: a cross-sectional study in China

BACKGROUND

Pharmacovigilance is a science that plays a significant role in reducing ADRs and helps predict adverse reactions to drugs in community. To safely use drugs in treatment and prevention of disease, adverse drug reaction has been paid more attention.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the future needs of existing systems, the paper investigated the current state of pharmacovigilance and the reporting of ADR in Chinese hospitals.

METHODS

This cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study involved 10,063 pharmacists, doctors, and nurses from primary, secondary, and tertiary hospitals in all 31 provinces of China. It was commissioned by the National Centre for ADR Monitoring of China and conducted in March 2020. Three areas were assessed: sociodemographic characteristics of participants, awareness of the pharmacovigilance system, and the current state of hospitals' reporting of ADRs. Chi-square tests were used to calculate P values.

RESULTS

Health care professionals had heard the term "pharmacovigilance" previously (89.40%) and knew the reporting object (68.47%), content (65.94%), and range (64.83%) of pharmacovigilance. Most hospitals dispatched responsible professionals (87.64%) and departments (86.25%) to monitor ADR reporting. A total of 58.66% of tertiary medical, 45.25% of secondary, and 38.90% of primary hospitals extracted ADRs from a hospital information system. Moreover, 53.09% of tertiary medical, 38.93% of secondary, and 23.89% of primary hospitals had established a prescription automatic screening system to warn about risks for ADRs. Health care professionals' reports (99.92%) and patient feedback (77.99%) were included in most hospitals' ADR reporting.

CONCLUSIONS

Chinese health care professionals generally have good awareness of pharmacovigilance, and pharmacovigilance is relatively more advanced in China compared to other developing countries.