Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Survey of Medication Safety among Community Pharmacists in Aden-Yemen

Introduction: All health professionals' participation is essential for ensuring quality and successful national post-marketing surveillance programs. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) among Yemeni community pharmacists (CPs) regarding medication safety in a poor-resource setting.

Methods: A survey was conducted among CPs in Aden governorate. The tool comprised of demographic profile, knowledge, attitude, and practice aspects of medication safety. The survey also studied the opinion about the future and benefits of Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) reporting in Yemen. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, and means (SD).

Results: A total of 450 CPs were enrolled in the study. Most of the participants were males (75%) with a bachelor's degree (91.9%) and between 3-6 years of experience (28%). The majority of CPs had good knowledge regarding the perception and objectives of Pharmacovigilance (PV) and ADRs. Approximately 41% of participants knew the purpose of PV as an essential system for public health and safety concerning drug use. Additionally, the Yemeni pharmacists had a positive attitude towards the reporting system. Approximately 84% of responders admitted that PV is the responsibility of the pharmacists. The majority of the participants (80%) declared no reporting form available at their workplace. According to CPs, 59% said that relevant authorities do not widely promote ADR reporting in Yemen, and 57% replied that the patient's lack of information is an obstacle in the reporting system. Approximately 89% of the CPs believed that reporting ADRs would improve patient safety.

Conclusions: The CPs have a positive attitude towards PV and an acceptable degree of knowledge. However, the practice level should be upraised.