ASSESSMENT OF ADR DETECTION, REPORTING AWARENESS, AND RISK PERCEPTION AMONG PHARMACY STUDENTS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL INSTITUTIONAL STUDY

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are an important concern in healthcare and can contribute to patient morbidity, mortality, increased healthcare costs, and prolonged hospital stay. Pharmacovigilance plays an important role in identifying, monitoring, assessing, and preventing adverse effects associated with medicines. ADR reporting is an important part of pharmacovigilance because it helps in detecting safety problems that may not be identified during clinical trials. Pharmacy students are future healthcare professionals and should have adequate knowledge about ADR detection, reporting procedures, and pharmacovigilance systems. The present study was conducted to assess ADR detection knowledge, reporting awareness, risk perception, and reporting practices among pharmacy students. A descriptive cross sectional institutional study was conducted among 400 pharmacy students over a period of three months. A structured, self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. The questionnaire consisted of four sections covering demographic characteristics, ADR detection knowledge, ADR reporting awareness, and risk perception and reporting practices. The findings showed that 77.3% of respondents correctly identified the definition of an ADR, while 82.5% were aware of the WHO definition of ADR. About 71.5% were aware of ADR classification types and 77.8% reported that they could identify clinical signs of common ADRs. However, only 63.7% were familiar with causality assessment scales. Regarding reporting awareness, 81.3% recognized that ADR reporting is important for patient safety, 69.5% knew where ADRs could be reported in India, and 72.3% were familiar with the Pharmacovigilance Programme of India (PvPI). However, misconceptions were observed regarding who can report ADRs and the appropriate reporting timeframe. Regarding practice, 60.9% of students had observed an ADR during clinical practice, whereas 53% had reported an ADR. ADR Monitoring Centres were the most commonly used reporting channel. A large majority of respondents, 81%, supported mandatory pharmacovigilance and ADR reporting training in the pharmacy curriculum. The study indicates that pharmacy students have generally good basic knowledge and awareness regarding ADRs, but gaps remain in practical reporting knowledge and reporting behaviour. Regular pharmacovigilance education, practical ADR reporting exercises, clinical exposure, and awareness programmes may help improve ADR reporting practices among pharmacy students.