Assessing the impact of structured education on the knowledge of hospital pharmacists about adverse drug reactions and reporting methods in Saudi Arabia: an open-label randomised controlled trial

Cheema, Ejaz; Almualem, Abdulmohsin Abdulaziz; Basudan, Abdulmohsen Talal; Salamatullah, AbdulAziz Khalid; Radhwi, Sohaib Omar; Alsehli, Ammar Soliman

BACKGROUND: Pharmacists have limited knowledge about adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in Saudi Arabia. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the impact of educational intervention on the knowledge of hospital pharmacists about ADRs. METHODS: This was a 3-month randomized controlled trial conducted in Saudi Arabia between January 2018 and March 2018. Participants in both groups were required to complete an online questionnaire at baseline and at 12-week follow-up. Participants in the intervention group received a structured information sheet about ADRs 2 weeks after the first assessment. The main outcome measure was difference in mean knowledge score about ADRs. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Difference in mean knowledge score about ADRs. RESULTS: A total of 46 participants were included in the study. At the 12-week follow-up, there was a significant improvement in the mean knowledge score (± standard deviation) of intervention participants from 7.67 (± 2.1) at baseline to 11.22 (± 0.4) (95% CI −4.5 to −2.5; p < 0.0001). The mean knowledge score of control participants remained unchanged at 6.71 (± 2.3) during both baseline and follow-up assessments. CONCLUSION: ADR-specific education was associated with a significant improvement in the knowledge and understanding of pharmacists about ADRs and their methods of reporting. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s40267-019-00621-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.