Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To assess adverse drug reactions (ADRs) reporting and identify factors to improve ADR reporting among community pharmacists in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. DESIGN: A quantitative cross-sectional study. SETTING: Community pharmacies in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. PARTICIPANTS: We randomly selected 210 pharmacists from a list community of pharmacies in Accra, Ghana. All participants had been practicing in the past one year, with this study being conducted from June to July 2016. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Prevalence of ADR reporting by community pharmacists in Accra, Ghana. RESULTS: Of the 210 community pharmacists interviewed 54.0% were males. Mean age was 32±10 years. Majority (96.0%) had heard of ADR reporting in Ghana, yet 18% had never seen the ADR reporting form. Reasons given for failure to report suspected ADRs included unavailability of reporting forms (83.1%), uncertainty about a causal relationship between the drug and the suspected ADR and classification of the reaction as "normal" with the medication being taken (23.6%). Only 34.0% of pharmacists had the ADR reporting forms available in their facilities. Marital status was the only factor significantly associated with ADR reporting (OR 3.18, 95%CI 1.02 - 9.12). CONCLUSION: ADR reporting by community pharmacists in Ghana remains low. To improve the proportion of reporting, ADR forms should be made available in all pharmacies, pharmacists and the general public should be made aware of online reporting systems, with continuous professional development in Pharmacovigilance with the advice that all suspected ADRs should be reported irrespective of uncertainty about causality. FUNDING: None declared.