title: Effect of an educational intervention on knowledge and attitude regarding pharmacovigilance and consumer pharmacovigilance among community pharmacists in Lalitpur district, Nepal.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pharmacovigilance activities are in a developing stage in Nepal. ADR reporting is mainly confined to healthcare professionals working in institutions recognized as regional pharmacovigilance centers. Community pharmacists could play an important role in pharmacovigilance. This study was conducted among community pharmacists in Lalitpur district to examine their knowledge and attitude about pharmacovigilance before and after an educational intervention.
  
  
  METHODS
  Knowledge and attitude was studied before, immediately after and 6 weeks following the intervention among 75 community pharmacists. Responses were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. A pretested questionnaire having twelve and nine statements for assessing knowledge and attitude were used. The overall scores were obtained by adding the 'knowledge' and 'attitude' scores and 'overall' scores were summarized using median and interquartile range. Wilcoxon signed-rank test for repeated samples was used to compare the differences between knowledge and attitude of the pharmacists before and after the educational program.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Knowledge scores [median (interquartile range)] improved significantly between pre-test [39 (44-46)], post-test [44 (44-44)] and retention period of 6 weeks after the intervention [46 (43-46)]. Knowledge score improved immediately post-intervention among both males [44 (41-47)] and females [44 (43-45)] but the retention scores (after 6 weeks) were higher [46 (42-48)] among males. Attitude scores improved significantly among females [46 (44-48)]. The overall scores were higher among pharmacists from rural areas.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Knowledge and attitude scores improved after the educational intervention. Further studies in other regions of the country are required. The national pharmacovigilance center should promote awareness about ADR reporting among community pharmacists.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, KIST Medical College, Lalitpur, Nepal. nishajha32@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Nisha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jha
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, NIMS University, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.
authors.forename: Devendra Singh
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Rathore
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Xavier University of School of Medicine, Oranjestad, Aruba.
authors.forename: Pathiyil Ravi
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Shankar
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal.
authors.forename: Shital
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bhandary
authors.affiliation: KIST Medical College, Lalitpur, Nepal.
authors.forename: Rabi Bushan
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Pandit
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Manipal College of Medical Sciences, Pokhara, Nepal.
authors.forename: Sudesh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gyawali
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Aden University, Aden, Yemen.
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alshakka
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016907:Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting Systems; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions; D004512:Education, Pharmacy; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009390:Nepal; D010594:Pharmacies; D010595:Pharmacists / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D060735:Pharmacovigilance; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Adverse drug reaction; Community pharmacists; Nepal; Pharmacovigilance; Reporting systems