Physician’s Knowledge of Adverse Drug Reaction in Saudi Arabia

Objectives: To state the physicians and dentists’ knowledge and responsiveness of the adverse drug reaction (ADR) and reporting system in Saudi Arabia. Methods: It was a cross-sectional design of an authorized self-administered electronic survey about awareness and knowledge valuation of the ADR reporting system in Saudi Arabia. The electronic survey contained of demographic data and designated knowledge assessment of participants about the ADR reporting system. Results: The total number of participants was 151. Of those, 111 (73.5%) were physicians, while dentists were 39 (26.5%). Of those (93.38%) responders who perceived of the ADR reporting system and (54.3%) knew the diverse types of hypersensitivity reaction. Also, (45.33%) knew the official form of ADR reporting system, (43.71%) knew to reflect the ADR as sentinel events and (34.44%) knew about the legal provision in the medicine act that provides pharmacovigilance activities in Saudi Arabia. Conclusion: The physicians knowledge of ADR and reporting system was insufficient in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Targeting education and training is a planned goal to recover physicians’ ADR knowledge and all healthcare professionals and ADR’s documentation system.