Improvement of patient adverse drug reaction reporting through a community pharmacist-based intervention in the Campania region of Italy

OBJECTIVE: Adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting by patients has a fundamental role in pharmacovigilance. The main objectives of the present study were to assess the impact of a pharmacist-based intervention in promoting direct patient reporting, to evaluate patient ability to identify and report ADRs and to determine their pattern. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The study involved 96 pharmacists in the Campania region of Italy, who interviewed their customers and asked them whether they had experienced an ADR. Patients who had experienced an ADR were invited to complete an ADR reporting form. The quality of completed ADR reporting forms was evaluated before their entry into the Italian Spontaneous Reporting System (Rete Nazionale di Farmacovigilanza [RNF]) and, once entered, their pattern was determined. RESULTS: A total of 18,677 patients were interviewed, and 10.88% had experienced an ADR. After quality control, 54.32% of all reporting forms were entered into the RNF so that patient contribution to spontaneous reporting, null over the years, reached ∼7%. Patients reported mainly non-serious (91.28%) and expected (94.62%) ADRs, and NSAIDs or antibiotics were the most frequently reported drugs. CONCLUSIONS: The study shows that pharmacists can have an important role in promoting patient reporting and adds new information on how a patient reporting form should be structured.