Awareness and reporting of adverse drug reactions among health care professionals in Sudan.

Background: Providers are often unaware of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) or may even lack basic knowledge about them. Underreporting has been attributed to time constraints, misconceptions about spontaneous reporting and bureaucratic reporting procedures, lack of information on how to report and a lack of availability of report forms, and physicians' attitudes to ADRs. This study was undertaken to determine baseline data for health care leaders' and policymakers' knowledge, attitudes, and policies related to ADRs at eight hospitals in Wad Madani, Sudan.

Methods: A random sample of participants completed the survey, which consisted of 35 closed questions and/or open-ended statements.

Results: Five hundred (83.3%) of the initial 600 surveys were returned, of which 475 (95%) were completed. Of the respondents, 175 (36.8%) were physicians, 100 (21.1%) were pharmacists, and 200 (42.1%) were nursing staff. The results indicated lack of polices for ADRs in most of the surveyed facilities. More than two thirds of the participants stated that they were not performing any ADR monitoring. The main reasons for not reporting ADRs were lack of knowledge on how to report (27.0%) and lack of awareness about the existence of national or international reporting systems (26.5%). Almost half (46%) of the participants reported the lack of any educational efforts for ADR prevention.

Discussion: Low awareness among health care professionals toward ADRs may reflect lack of basic knowledge and lack of vigilance. The study has helped promote health care professionals' ADR awareness and vigilance at the surveyed health care facilities. Education and training regarding ADRs of health professionals are warranted. Steps have been taken to develop ADR monitoring programs in collaboration with other stakeholders.