Knowledge, attitude and perception of suspected adverse drug reactions in consumers: a prospective observational study in a tertiary care hospital

Background: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are the main leading causes of hospitalization which leads to morbidity and mortality worldwide. Reporting of ADRs to national databases is necessary. To strengthen this system, consumers apart from health-care professionals have also been empowered to report any ADRs directly to the regulatory agencies. Direct and spontaneous patient or consumer reporting offers various benefits beyond pharmacovigilance (PV). Consumer reporting of ADRs has existed in several countries for decades, but in India, with the inclusion of consumer reporting of ADR, the data on the same is valuable and limited. Hence the present study is taken up. The aim of this study was to explore the knowledge, perceptions and practice of ADR reporting among consumers in KIMS hospital and research center, Bangalore.Methods: The data was collected from Patients attending OPD’s, admitted in wards and at pharmacy in KIMS Hospital and Research Center, Bangalore. It is a cross sectional descriptive study. Study period is for six months from 1st April to 31st September 2018 and sample size is 200. A structured questionnaire in English and Kannada was used as a tool.Results: Of the 200 patients from the surveyed, in males the knowledge scores were better when compared to females and attitude, perception scores were same (statistically not significant). Most of the patients opined for the establishment of consumer pharmacovigilance system at hospitals and local pharmacies.Conclusions: Knowledge about ADR reporting and pharmacovigilance is less in consumers. So that there is a need to increase awareness in consumers.