Pharmacovigilance in Dentistry: A Study to Evaluate Knowledge, Attitude and Perception (KAP) of Reporting of Any Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) Among Dental Students in Southern Region of Tamil Nadu

Abstract

Background: An unfavourable side effect brought on by taking medications is known as an adverse drug reaction (ADR). Even at the recommended dosages of medications used to treat or prevent disease, these reactions can still happen. To avoid any potentially fatal situations in a dental office, a dentist must have a thorough understanding of ADR and the medicines that cause it.

Aim: The purpose of this questionnaire study was to assess the level of ADR knowledge among dentistry college students.

Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional question-and-answer survey, 102 dentistry students were involved. They were asked to respond to 18 questions to gauge their level of understanding of pharmacovigilance.

Results: The calculations were done using an MS-Excel spreadsheet and the findings were presented as a percentage of observations. It was discovered that among the 102 dental students, nearly 45.1%, did not understand what the term "pharmacovigilance" meant. 63.7% were not aware of the regulatory body for monitoring ADR’s.

Conclusions: It was concluded that dental students had inadequate knowledge of reporting adverse drug reactions, hence it is imperative to take steps to impart to dental students the fundamentals of pharmacovigilance.