Abstract

VARALLO, FR  and  MASTROIANNI, PC. Undergraduate education in pharmacovigilance is effective to develop core competencies to assess drug safety by health professionals?. Rev. OFIL·ILAPHAR [online]. 2021, vol.31, n.1, pp.101-103.  Epub June 07, 2021. ISSN 1699-714X.  https://dx.doi.org/10.4321/s1699-714x20210001000017.

SUMMARY

Lack of knowledge, skills, and attitude in pharmacovigilance contributes to worsening drug-related morbidity and mortality and impairing the causality assessment of adverse drug reactions (ADR). The lack of ability of health professionals to identify and recognize ADR hinders the detection of risk factors, alternative causes, confounders variables, and patients more susceptible to drug-induced harm. Underreporting and incomplete reports of ADR (low quality information) still comprise the major obstacle to pharmacovigilance, even after decades of effort to improve the situation. Continuing education for health professionals is encouraged in the third global challenge of the World Organization (WHO) and is necessary to improve and innovate the teaching method of pharmacovigilance in the curricula of health courses. The curriculum should include active teaching methodologies, hands-on exercises, and current topics such as pharmacogenetics. Clinical aspects may be summarized in five key aspects importance of pharmacovigilance, identification, management, prevention and reporting. The objective is to develop proactivity in pharmacovigilance activities so that predict the risk and prevent drug-induced harm, as well as produce reports with enough information that enable signal generation and causality analysis.

Keywords : Patient safety; education; continuing; drug-related side effects and adverse reactions; pharmacovigilance.

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