Impact of the Role of the Clinical Pharmacist on the Underreporting of Adverse Drug Reactions at a Peruvian hospital

Abstract

Background: The clinical pharmacists play a key role in the Pharmacovigilance System. They are integrated to the health team performing pharmacotherapeutic follow-up (PF), drug information, at third level care hospital. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of the clinical pharmacists’ role in increasing the reporting of suspected adverse drug reactions (SADRs) after including in-service training (IST) in their role, as well as to characterize the reported ADRs. Methods: A longitudinal study was performed, reports of SADRs received through medical interconsultations were evaluated, before and after applying IST, in 2 periods: January 2017 to June 2018 and July 2018 to December 2019. Results: Interconsultations after IST were increased by 168,4%; of these, 75 were ADRs reported to the Dirección General de Medicamentos, Insumos y Drogas (DIGEMID). Internal Medicine and Pneumology services reported more SADR in both periods. There was significant statistical difference in ADRs’ causality (P = .001) and type (P = .009). Severe ADRs highlighted after IST (4 vs 12). The most affected organ and system in both periods was skin and appendages. Conclusion: The reporting of SADRs augmented, reflected in an increase in medical interconsultations as a modality of SADR notification, after including IST to the role of the clinical pharmacist, allowing the development of convenient FP, which led to the evaluation of SARs. A higher number of serious ADRs were reported.