title: [Assessment of an active pharmacovigilance system carried out by a pharmacist].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Despite the importance of notifying and preventing adverse drug reactions (ADRs), they are under reported and their consequences are not adequately evaluated.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the impact of a pharmacovigilance system carried out by a pharmacist.
  
  
  METHODS
  In an internal medicine service, the spontaneous report of ADRs was compared blindly with an active pharmacovigilance system in which a pharmacist detected, monitored and prevented ADRs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 1,196 patients was included. Of these 604 were hospitalized in intervened wards, where 50 suspected ADRs in 47 patients were reported. In non-intervened wards, only three ADRs were spontaneously reported. Therefore, the pharmacovigilance system significantly improved the detection and report of ADRs with a risk ratio of 15.4 (95% confidence intervals 4.8-49.1). Sixty six percent of ADRs were classified as severe. Antimicrobials were the main group of medications causing ADRs in 44% of reports. Forty three percent of ADRs were preventable and prolonged hospital stay by a mean of eight days.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An active pharmacovigilance system carried out by pharmacists improves the detection of ADRs and promotes its prevention.
authors.forename: Ignacio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sánchez
authors.forename: Cristián
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Amador
authors.forename: José Cristian
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Plaza
authors.forename: Gonzalo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Correa
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Amador
mesh_terms: D016907:Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002677:Chile / Q000453:epidemiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010595:Pharmacists; D060735:Pharmacovigilance; D012720:Severity of Illness Index