Knowledge, attitude and practice of community pharmacists of Gujarat towards adverse drug reactions

Background: Adverse drug reactions (ADR) are one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in India. Community pharmacists are first to report and also in contact with patients, so assessing their knowledge, attitude and practice towards adverse drug reactions is very helpful. Aim: To assess knowledge, attitude and practices of community pharmacists of Gujarat towards adverse drug reactions (ADR). Material and methods: Cross-sectional study was conducted at Gujarat during the period of January 2014 to June 2014 among 150 community pharmacists. We had interviewed them with questionnaire which included 8 questions related to knowledge, 6 questions related to attitude and 6 questions related to practice towards adverse drug reaction (ADR). Results: Community pharmacists had poor knowledge and practice but good attitude towards adverse drug reactions (ADR). Conclusion: Our findings suggested the need for positive, evidence based educational and managerial interventions regularly to improve ADR reporting.