Journal of Pharmacovigilance

Abstract

Knowledge of and Perspectives on Pharmacovigilance among Pharmacists in the Miyagi and Hokkaido Regions of Japan

Taku Obara, Hiroaki Yamaguchi, Yutaro Iida, Michihiro Satoh, Takamasa Sakai, Yoshiko Aoki, Yuriko Murai, Masaki Matsuura, Mayumi Sato, Takayoshi Ohkubo, Ken Iseki and Nariyasu Mano

The aim of the present study was to clarify the knowledge of and perspectives on pharmacovigilance among pharmacists in the Miyagi and Hokkaido regions of Japan. In this cross-sectional, self-administered questionnairebased study, we contacted 3,164 pharmacists who belonged to the Miyagi Prefecture Hospital Pharmacists Association or the Hokkaido Society of Hospital Pharmacists during the 3-month period between January and March 2013. Of the 1,851 respondents (<30 years, 22.2%; ≥ 50 years, 25.8%; women, 41.9%), 6.9%, 22.1%, and 71.0% answered “I understand what it is”, “I have heard of it, but I do not understand what it is”, and “I do not know what it is”, respectively, to the question “Have you ever heard of the term ‘pharmacovigilance’?”. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that being ≥ 50 years old (odds ratio [OR]: 6.10, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.99-18.72), having a doctoral degree (OR: 6.33; 95%CI: 3.19-12.57), and having ≥ 10 pharmacists in the workplace (OR: 2.08; 95%CI: 1.20-3.60) were ifica3.60) were significantly and independently associated with understanding “pharmacovigilance.” Pharmacists who understood “pharmacovigilance” also tended to know more related terms and actions. Furthermore, 76.2% of the respondents thought that pharmacists should be responsible for pharmacovigilance in the clinical setting, and even though most of the pharmacists in Japan had insufficient knowledge of pharmacovigilance, 71.9% wished to acquire more.