Knowledge, attitude and practice of pharmacovigilance among paramedics and non-medical personnel in a newly opened tertiary care center

Background: When a drug is taken a risk is taken. Medicinal products are essentially used for beneficial purposes but it may also carry some anticipated side effects, sometimes it could be undesirable and unexpected. The associated risks are significantly reduced with its judicious use i.e recommended dose in a proper dosage form. However there are instances when optimal dose have caused adverse drug reactions ranging from mild to life threatening conditions bring human sufferings in terms of morbidity and mortality, as well as economic burden to the health care system. Assessment of knowledge attitude and practice regarding pharmacovigilance among the medical personnel and the non medical working staff can possibly give us insight in the understanding of various internal and external factors affecting reporting of ADRs. There is a possibility to figure out the lacunae where necessary intervention may be required to address the related issues, as some studies have suggested that lack of knowledge may lead to non-judicious use of medicines and it is concerning.   Objective: The study was undertaken to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of pharmacovigilance among paramedics and non-medical personnel in a newly opened tertiary care center.   Methods: A cross-sectional study was designed using a self-administered questionnaire to access the knowledge, attitude and practice of pharmacovigilance among the participants from paramedics and non-medical personnel of Kokrajhar medical college and hospital administration.   Results: A total of 150 participants from paramedics and non medical personnel have completed the questionnaire. 31% of the paramedics and 26 % of the non-medical personnel were aware of the term pharmacovigilance. Purpose of pharmacovigilance was known to only 13 % of paramedics and 3 % for non-medical personnel. 45% paramedics and 69% non-medical participants were not aware of suspected ADR reporting system in India showing very limited knowledge among the participants. A positive attitude has been observed among the participants as over 65% of participants from both the groups have chosen for establishing of ADR monitoring centre in every hospital with approximately 56% from both groups thinks that reporting of adverse drug reaction is necessary. Practice part seems to be the area of concern as active participation is lacking among the participants of both groups. Only 2% of paramedics have ever played a role in reporting of ADR followed by 1% from non-medical personnel group.   Conclusion: Our research study had revealed that paramedics in comparison to non medical personnel have better knowledge, both the groups have considerable attitude towards pharmacovigilance which shows positivity towards future prospects. Practice part seemed to be poor in both groups however participant’s willingness to participate in ADR monitoring was appreciable. Sharing the knowledge and uplifting the practice based performance by active self participation could bring promising results in solving problems related to ADR underreporting.