Pharmacovigilance amongst doctors in private hospitals in Lagos West Senatorial District, Nigeria

Appropriate practice of pharmacovigilance in Nigeria will require total involvement of the private medical practitioners considering their number and closeness to the community. Thus, the understanding and attitude of Doctors practicing in the private sectors, towards Pharmacovigilance, was investigated. A consecutive sampling was used to distribute two hundred and seventy questionnaires to consenting doctors in the private hospitals of the Lagos West Senatorial District. The response rate was 93% and the results showed that majority of the respondents, 208 (82.9%), have heard about pharmacovigilance and a large percentage (79.3%) defined pharmacovigilance correctly. However, most of the respondents, 141 (56.2%), did not know how to report ADRs and where to obtain the ADR forms (71.7%). Only 14 (5.6%) of the respondents reported ADRs in the last one month. However, the majority of the respondents (89.6%) were willing to practice pharmacovigilance if they are trained. There were significant associations (p < 0.05) between previous areas of practice of the respondents; the respondents' academic qualifications; years of experience and reporting of ADRs. The NPC has already been organizing series' of trainings for doctors on pharmacovigilance, however, more periodic trainings should be organized for doctors especially those practicing in private hospitals. The curriculum of medical schools should be reviewed for its pharmacovigilance content.