Pilot study about hospital pharmacy residents' perception of pharmacovigilance in Belgium, France, Canada and Switzerland

Background: Pharmacovigilance is defined as the science and activities relating to the detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse drug reactions (ADRs). Although pharmacovigilance is a responsibility for all healthcare professionals, this activity is an important part of a pharmacist’s practice. Hospital pharmacy residents are expected to have the necessary skills to monitor, manage, report and prevent ADRs as a part of their academic curriculum. Assessing and comparing perceptions of pharmacovigilance of hospital pharmacy residents from four different countries can contribute to a reflection about their education and their role in pharmacovigilance.
Objectives: To assess and compare the perception of pharmacovigilance of hospital pharmacy residents from Belgium, France, Quebec and Switzerland.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in March 2014 using an online-questionnaire administrated to 229 hospital pharmacy residents. Nineteen questions were organized into five sections: demographic data, pharmacovigilance education and practice, attitudes toward reporting adverse drug reactions, obstacles to reporting ADRs and measures to improve ADRs reporting rate.
Results: Unlike the French residents, most of the other respondents believed that they had received an adequate pharmacovigilance education. The main obstacles to ADR reporting were similar: lack of experience and concern about overwork. The same measures concerning the development of pharmacovigilance were identified. Hospital residents expected local measures for a closer pharmacovigilance.
Conclusions: These observations lead us to think that standardizing and changing hospital pharmacy residents’ education and good practices in clinical pharmacovigilance are required to optimize patient care.