Pharmacovigilance Education in Pharmacy: An Evaluation of Knowledge, Attitude and Perception Among Future Pharmacists

Background: Pharmacovigilance (Pv) comprises the detection, valuation, understanding, as well as inhibition of adverse drug events or drug related glitches. Following the thalidomide tragedies of the 1950s and 1960s, pharmacovigilance became a formal discipline. In India, challenges like under- recording of (ADRs) with lack of awareness among healthcare professionals led to the launch of Pharmacovigilance Program of India (PvPI), 2010. This research intended to assess the Knowledge, Attitude, and Perception (KAP) of pharmacy students across different streams through an educational intervention to improve their involvement in patient safety and ADR reporting. Materials and Methods: The study included 517 pharmacy students (B Pharm 200, D Pharm 116, M Pharm 52, Pharm D 149). Demographic details were collected, and participants were assessed on KAP using a 15-question survey before and after an educational intervention. The internal consistency and reliability of the questionnaires were evaluated using IBM SPSS 27.0 and cronbach’s alpha. Results: Post-intervention, there was a significant improvement in KAP. Knowledge on Pv increased from 52.24% to 93.83%, while the Attitude towards the benefits of ADR reporting rose from 76.4% to 94%. Perception regarding the need for greater awareness of Pv increased from 77.58% to 94.42%. Conclusion: The educational intervention significantly improved the KAP of pharmacy Students towards pharmacovigilance. Despite some variations among different student groups, the study concludes that such interventions are crucial for enhancing understanding and participation in Pharmacovigilance activities, essential for public health and drug safety.