Abstract

Background: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) commonly encountered in daily practice are one of the well-known causes of morbidity and mortality in both hospital and community settings. Ayurveda, the holistic science of herbal medicine that is regarded as the safest medical system, is presently being looked as an important module towards alternative medicine by the world and because of this WHO emphasizes the need for consistent monitoring of its ADRs. Most of the ADRs are preventable with an accomplishment of pharmacovigilance (PV) by the involvement of healthcare providers. Aims and Objectives: To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAPs) about ADR reporting of Ayurvedic drugs among 60 Ayurvedic practitioners (vaidyas) in Andhra Pradesh.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was done by a questionnaire that comprised 15 questions regarding KAP of PV in 60 vaidyas of Andhra Pradesh by WhatsApping them the questionnaire and asking to resend it after answering. The collected data were analyzed using MS Excel 2007 and expressed in percentage (%).
Results: Among 60 vaidyas, 55 responded to our survey questionnaire. Only 38% of them were aware of the term, “PV,” 31% knew about its concept, 25% about National PV programme (NPP), 7% knew about the ADR reporting form and only 2% reported an ADR. Conclusion: Our study indicates that the majority of the Ayurvedic health-care professionals had a poor knowledge and attitude about PV and very few practiced it. Hence, they should be trained properly on ADR reporting to improve the current scenario in the NPP.