Medication safety knowledge, attitudes and practices among community pharmacists in Lebanon

Background: The effectiveness of a national post-marketing surveillance program depends directly on the active participation of all health professionals. There is no current comprehensive and active pharmacovigilance program available in Lebanon. Objectives: To assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) among community pharmacists in Lebanon with respect to potential pharmacovigilance and adverse-drug-reaction reporting in Lebanon. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study, using a self-administered KAP questionnaire and conducted between March and July 2016, included 1857 pharmacists practicing in community settings. Statistical analysis included chi(2) test for dichotomous or multinomial qualitative variables, and Wilcoxon test for quantitative variables with non-homogeneous variances or non-normal distribution. Results: The majority of responders had good knowledge concerning the concept and purpose of pharmacovigilance as well as adverse drug reactions (how to report these/the importance of reporting adverse events/the definition of an adverse event and pharmacovigilance). Concerning community pharmacists' attitudes and practice towards pharmacovigilance, the majority described having a positive attitude towards their role in adverse drug reaction reporting and this activity was even seen as one of their core duties. The questionnaire revealed a lack of practice and training regarding pharmacovigilance. Nonetheless, the pharmacists agreed on the Order of Pharmacists in Lebanon and the Ministry of Health's role in promoting this practice and helping them be more involved in reporting adverse drug reactions (ADRs). The pharmacists thought that they are well positioned regarding patient-safety practice in their pharmacies and the results were not statistically different between pharmacy employers and employees. Conclusion: Lebanese pharmacists have the required knowledge and positive attitude to start reporting ADRs, were aware of ADRs occurring with various medicines post-marketing, yet were currently not able to disseminate this information widely or to record it centrally, emphasizing the importance of establishing a national ADR reporting system.