European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

A STUDY ON KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICES OF PRIVATE DENTAL PRACTIONERS REGARDING PHARMACOVIGILANCE AND ADVERSE DRUG REACTION REPORTING IN JODHPUR CITY, INDIA

*Dr. Kundendu Arya Bishen (MDS, Ph.D), Dr. Anil Bhandari (M Pharm., Ph.D.), Dr. Madhusudan Astekar (MDS, Ph.D.), Dr. Jyothirmai J. Reddy (MDS) and Dr. Shital Kumar Sagari (MDS)

ABSTRACT

Background: Most of the organized studies on assessment of knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) regarding pharmacovigilance and Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) reporting have been done in medical field (not in dentistry), in hospital setups. Involvement of clinicians doing private practice was minimal. Thus, the present study was contemplated for private dental practitioners in Jodhpur to assess their knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding pharmacovigilance and ADR-reporting Methods: A structured and validated questionnaire was used to obtain demographics of 116 private dental practitioners in Jodhpur, to assess their knowledge of pharmacovigilance, attitudes and practices regarding ADR-reporting, and factors that they perceived may influence reporting. Results: The knowledge and awareness about pharmacovigilance, amongst dentists was very low. About 70% respondents didn‟t know who could report. Only 23% had an idea what to report. Many dentists thought that ADRs due to ayurvedic and homeopathic (27%) and mouth washes and pastes (19%) should not be reported. Most alarming result was that although 61% dentists agreed that they had seen ADRs at their dental practice, none of the dentist in Jodhpur had ADR forms at their clinics (0%) and none had ever reported an adverse event to any national centers (0%). Conclusion: Our study strongly indicates the need to create awareness and to promote reporting of ADRs amongst dentists. The awareness about pharmacovigilance, amongst dentists was very low and almost none of the dentists have reported adverse drug reactions /events from their private clinics. The study was also a step to spread awareness and educate dentists about pharmacovigilance and ADR-reporting & to improve quality of patient care by ensuring safer use of drugs.

Keywords: Adverse drugs reactions, Drugs, Dentist's Practice Pattern.