Pharmacovigilance Knowledge and Attitude of Health Professionals: A Pre- and Post-intervention Study

Objective: The objective of the current study was to evaluate healthcare professionals' knowledge and attitude towards pharmacovigilance in Ribat University Hospital, Sudan. Methods: This was a pre and post-intervention study conducted at the National Ribat University Hospital in Khartoum, Sudan. The sample size was calculated as 98. The phases of the study were as follow: Pre- intervention phase: Knowledge and attitude of health professionals towards Pharmacovigilance were assessed by using a pre-tested questionnaire after obtaining ethics approval and a written informed consent. Intervention phase: The health professionals were divided into four subgroups. Each group had the same number and categories of the sample. Each subgroup received structured information about Pharmacovigilance by either lecture sessions, pamphlets, mobile phones (SMS) or posters. The sessions were conducted by the researcher. Post-intervention phase: Reassessment of knowledge and attitude of health professionals towards Pharmacovigilance took place by using a pre-tested questionnaire. Assessment of Knowledge and Attitude was based on Likert scale. Descriptive and inferential analysis was performed by SPSS version 21. Results: The mean respondents' pharmacovigilance knowledge was improved from 45% to 64% between pre and post-intervention phases (p=0.007). The mean respondents' pharmacovigilance attitude was improved from 78% to 84.3% between pre and post-intervention phases (p=0.254). Conclusion: The study concluded that, pharmacovigilance knowledge of health professionals in Ribat University Hospital, Sudan is inadequate. Most health professionals have positive attitude towards pharmacovigilance. Health professionals' knowledge of pharmacovigilance significantly improves after intervention. Pharmacists showed higher level of pharmacovigilance knowledge (92.9%) compared to physicians (66%) and nurses (25%). Healthcare professionals with less years of experience showed higher pharmacovigilance knowledge (696%) compared to the more experienced (42.6%).