Pharmacovigilance Knowledge among Patients at a Teaching Hospital in Lalitpur District, Nepal.

BACKGROUND

Consumer's knowledge and perception towards adverse drug reactions (ADR) can play an important role in ensuring a healthy lifestyle and proper use of medicines.

AIMS

This study aimed to assess the knowledge and perception towards pharma covigilance in general and consumer pharmacovigilance in particular among out patients in a teaching hospital of Nepal.

SETTINGS AND DESIGN

A descriptive cross-sectional study using qualitative and quantitative methods was carried out from 1(st) May to 3 June 2013.

METHODS

Every fifth patient visiting the outpatient pharmacy was interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Gender, age, educational qualification, profession and ethnicity were noted. Twenty-three patients were interviewed.

RESULTS

There were 10 males and 13 females. The age of the respondents ranged from 11 to 50 years with a mean age of 27.8 (SD = 5.61) years. Seven (30.43%) respondents were students studying in different levels. Thirteen (56.52%) participants were from the Newar community. Majority of the patients (86.95%) knew ADRs may be caused by the medicines they consume and 18 (78.26%) were of the opinion that ADRs should be reported to doctors and other health care professionals including pharmacists.

CONCLUSION

Knowledge and perception were low in certain areas. There is a need for educational interventions for improving the awareness of patients and general public for ensuring medicine safety and promoting rational use of medicines.