Community pharmacists' views on adverse drug reactions reporting in Malaysia: a pilot study

Objectives To investigate community pharmacists' knowledge, attitudes and views on adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting. Setting Seven community pharmacies in Malaysia. Method Structured interviews with community pharmacists. Informed consent was obtained and interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Main Outcome Measures Content analysis of themes on awareness of ADR reporting, reporting activities, attitudes and views on patient reporting. Results All pharmacists claimed to have some knowledge of a reporting system but only one had submitted a report directly to the regulatory authority. Despite the low level of reporting activities, all participants agreed that it was part of their professional obligation to report an ADR. Most participants were not aware of the direct patient reporting scheme and were skeptical about its success. Lack of awareness and patients' limited knowledge about their medications were viewed as barriers to patient reporting. Local attitudinal issues including pharmacists' attitude towards ADR reporting were described as possible contributing factors. Conclusion Community pharmacists have an important role in reporting ADRs. Many Malaysian patients are still perceived to be ill-informed of their medications, an important determinant to the success of patient reporting. There is a need for further training about ADRs and ADR reporting for health professionals and further education for patients.