摘要：Background: Medication safety and pharmacovigilance (PV) remains as an important discipline worldwide.
However, there is a significant lack of knowledge of PV and adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting among students
in the healthcare field. Thus, this study is aimed to measure knowledge, attitude, and perceptions and compares it
between healthcare students (i.e., medicine, dentistry, and nursing).
Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 710 undergraduate healthcare students from different universities in
Saudi Arabia was conducted. A validated structured pilot-tested questionnaire was administered to the participants
to assess their knowledge, attitude, and perceptions towards PV and ADRs reporting. Descriptive statistics were
used to describe the study findings. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 21.
Results: Overall, the study found that 60.8 and 40.0% of healthcare students correctly defined PV and ADRs
respectively. Most students showed positive attitudes and perceptions towards PV and ADRs reporting. PV
knowledge, attitude, and perceptions towards PV were significantly higher among pharmacy students as compared
to other healthcare students. Only 39% of healthcare students revealed that they have received any form of PV
education and 49% of them indicated that PV is well covered in their school curriculum. Pharmacy students are
more trained in their schools to report and have performed ADRs reporting in their school as compared to other
healthcare students.
Conclusions: Pharmacy students have better knowledge, attitude, and perception towards PV and ADR reporting
in comparison to other healthcare students. The study clearly describes the need for integrating pharmacovigilance
education in Saudi healthcare schools’ curriculums to prepare them for real-world practices and workplaces.
关键词：Adverse drug reactions ; Attitudes ; Healthcare students ; Knowledge ; Perception ; Pharmacovigilance
