The Efficiency of Multi-Faceted Educational Intervention on Knowledge, Perceived Behavior, and Practice Skills towards Pharmacovigilance among Undergraduate Pharmacy Students of India

BACKGROUND: The primary reason for poor adverse drug reaction (ADR) signal detection worldwide is the under-reporting of ADRs by healthcare professionals. Multidisciplinary teams, including pharmacists, may play an essential role in targeting this issue. AIM: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the impact of a multi-faceted educational intervention (MEI) on the knowledge, perception, and practice skills of pharmacovigilance among undergraduate pharmacy students. METHODS: A longitudinal, prospective study using a single group before-and-after intervention design was conducted among 100 undergraduate pharmacy students at Togari Veeramallappa Memorial College of Pharmacy, Ballari, India (TVMCP), affiliated to Vijayanagara Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS), Ballari, India. The questionnaire was structured using previous studies and standardized. It had three groups of questions. Group 1 questions evaluated the knowledge (K1-K8), group 2 tested perceptions (A1-A6), and group 3 tested the practice skills of pharmacovigilance (P1-P5) of the participant. The participants were graded in 3 categories as poor, unsatisfactory, and satisfactory, depending upon the mean score. Matched pairs student t-test and The Wilcoxon Signed rank statistical test was used to assess the impact of the MEI on the participants’ knowledge, perception, and practice skills score, along with recording different factors preventing them from being actively involved in the pharmacovigilance program. RESULTS: The educational intervention improved the pharmacovigilance knowledge, perception, and practice skills scores of our pharmacy students. CONCLUSION: Our study showed that knowledge, perception, and practice skills scores increased after MEI highlighting the need for regular educational campaigns to healthcare professions.