ABSTRACT
Background: Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Under reporting of ADRs by health care professionals is a very common problem worldwide. So, the present study was planned to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of postgraduate (PG) students towards ADR reporting and suggest possible ways for improvement.Methods: It was a cross sectional questionnaire-based study conducted among 44 PG students using a questionnaire with questions on knowledge (21), attitude (13) and practices (15) of ADR reporting. The questionnaire was analyzed question wise and the percentage was calculated using Microsoft Excel spreadsheet in Microsoft Office 2010 software.Results: Most of them were aware of the term pharmacovigilance (PV) (95.45%). 54.55% agreed to be trained on how to report an ADR. 88.63% knew about the existence of pharmacovigilance committee in the institute.93% of participants knew that Central Drug Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) is responsible for monitoring of ADRs. 56.82% were aware about VIGIBASE an online software to report ADR. 81.82% of participants had agreed to witness ADRs in patients but only 38.64% reported them. The main reason behind it was non – availability of ADR forms. 42.55% opine that mobile based app would be the most preferred method to send ADR information to an ADR reporting center.Conclusions: There exists a huge gap between ADR experienced and ADR reported by PG students. Participants agreed upon necessity of reporting ADR and periodic briefing about PV.
ABSTRACT
Background: This study was to assess the usefulness of nasal smear as a quick, easy and inexpensive diagnostic method for allergic rhinitis and for assessment of the cost effectiveness of antihistaminics.Methods: This study was conducted in rural setting of tertiary care hospital. Nasal smears were taken from 52 patients with a clinical history of nasal allergy having nasal congestion score of at least 3 or more. Nasal smears were stained with Hematoxilin-Eosin and examined by pathologists.Results: A total of 52 patients 13 in each groups of the age group 18 to 65 years (Mean age, 33.73±10.23 years); 48.08% are Female and 51.92% are Male were randomized and received either Cetirizine, Levocetirizine, Loratadine, or Fexofenadine over a period of one week. The association of eosinophil before and after the treatment was obtained using logistic regression analysis for each treatment separately. Eosinophil is marginally associated with Cetirizine before and after treatment.Conclusions: Evaluation of eosinophils in nasal smear is an insensitive but cheaper test for the diagnosis of allergic rhinitis and use as a simple tool for comparison of cost effectiveness among commonly used oral antihistaminics. pharmacoeconomic analysis of present comparative clinical study shows that cetirizine is a better choice in comparison with levocetrizine, loratidine and fexofenadine due to its cost effectiveness.