A cross-sectional survey on attitude and barriers of healthcare professionals to adverse drug reactions reporting

Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) is a major public health challenge that affects confidence in medications, with worse treatment outcomes. This study assessed the opinions of healthcare professionals (HCP) toward reporting of ADRs by evaluating their attitudes and identifying barriers to ADR reporting. A cross-sectional quantitative study was carried out among healthcare professionals in the primary, secondary and tertiary health facilities in Cross River State, Nigeria, using convenient sampling technique. Questionnaires were administered through emails and WhatsApp social media using Qualtrics software. Data were summarized using descriptive statistics and Chi-square test to find associations between categorical variables at a p < 0.05. In total, 325 healthcare professionals aged 23 to 67 years participated in the survey on ADR reporting. This number comprised 138(42.5%) males, 109(33.5%) medical doctors, 75(23.1%) pharmacists, 95(29.2%) nurses, 29(8.9%) medical laboratory scientists, 10(3.1%) community health care workers and 7(2.2%) dentists. Over half, 177(54.5%) had not received any training on ADR reporting, and positive attitude was observed in 182(56%). There was a significant association between place of work and attitude towards ADR reporting ( p = 0.029). Also, 267(83.2%) of HCPs identified “not being sure of the ADR” as the most common barrier to under reporting of ADR while lack of feedback on previously reported cases 264(82.2%), not knowing where to report 250(77.9%) and not knowing where to find the yellow reporting form 240(74.8%) were also reported as barriers. ​Over half ​ of the HCPs had positive attitude toward ADR reporting, although the reporting process was limited by several barriers. Concerted efforts toward addressing the identified barriers are necessary to improve ADR reporting​​. Future studies may focus on interventions to determine the impact of enlightenment programs on the ADR reporting among HCPs .