Attitude of Czech physicians to adverse drug reaction reporting

This survey was carried out to test physicians' knowledge of the principles of adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting. Structured interviews were carried out with 500 physicians in all regions of the Czech Republic. The questions were aimed at observing ADR, the obligation and the means of reporting, and the source of drug information used in practice. Ninety percent (n=448) reported that they faced ADR in their practice, and 92% (n=458) were aware of the obligation to report, but most (180 general practitioners, 138 specialists) were unclear as to what should be reported. Knowledge of the subject of ADR reporting was significantly lower (18.4%) among physicians who used primarily the drug information provided by pharmaceutical companies than among those who used other information sources (38.4%). The low level of knowledge of ADR spontaneous reporting system found in our study is one of the reasons for the substantial underreporting of ADR in the Czech Republic compared to other European countries.