Impact of educational intervention on knowledge, attitude and practice of pharmacovigilance among interns

Introduction: Pharmacovigilance (PV) plays an important role in generating adverse drug reaction (ADR) data. However, the practice of PV is still very low among health-care professionals due to lack of knowledge and awareness. Internship is the phase when medical graduates work for the first time under supervision of the seniors. At present, we have little knowledge about awareness of PV among interns in India. Hence, this study was planned to assess the level of knowledge awareness and practice of PV among interns and subsequent change in these after PV training session. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive questionnaire-based study was conducted among interns of a tertiary health care and teaching institute. Participants were given descriptive questionnaire; they completed the questionnaire before and after undergoing training program in PV. The impact of the effectiveness of educational intervention among interns was evaluated by Chi-square test. Results: Out of 150 participants, 120 interns completely filled the questionnaires before and after the educational intervention. Educational program on PV was found to increase knowledge and positive attitudes towards various aspects of PV. Conclusion: Training program on PV may help increase the knowledge as well as awareness about principles and techniques of PV, which will increase the credibility of health care in the country