Fourth and Final Year Pharmacy Students' Knowledge about Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting and Pharmacovigilance in A Pharmacy College of Lahore

Background: There is very poor knowledge and awareness regarding Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) reporting and Pharmacovigilance. This is evident from the literature that the mean score and the percentage towards the knowledge about adverse drug reaction reporting and pharmacovigilance is very low. Majority of the students are of the opinion that the pharmacy syllabus should be improved and these subjects should be taught more thoroughly. In the meantime awareness programs should be launched for ADR reporting and better detection, assessment and monitoring for prevention of adverse drug reactions. Aim: To assess the knowledge about adverse drug reaction reporting and pharmacovigilance amongst 4th and final year pharmacy students. Methods: A cross sectional descriptive survey was conducted and 122 students were enrolled randomly in this study to get the feedback regarding knowledge and awareness of adverse drug reaction reporting and pharmacovigilance. Out of them 66 students were studying in 4th year and 56 students were in 5th year of pharmacy degree program. Results: Correct reply of fifth year student's means score 8.57 +/- 1.57 was higher than fourth year student's mean score 6.53 +/- 2.21. The p-value being 0.00. Overall mean score of knowledge and awareness towards ADRs and pharmacovigilance was 7.46 +/- 2.19. There was a significant difference in the mean score between the two groups of classes for knowledge. Conclusion: The fifth year students have better knowledge and awareness towards ADR reporting and pharmacovigilance.