Development and Evaluation of a Pharmacovigilance Education Module for Medical Students in Nepal

This study evaluated the impact of a pharmacovigilance educational module on the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) of pharmacovigilance among students in a medical college in Nepal and obtained their feedback on the module. A pre-post study design was used. First to fourth semester (basic sciences) undergraduate medical students (n = 229) were included. Their baseline KAP towards adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and pharmacovigilance was evaluated using a pretested KAP questionnaire. The students were grouped into “control” (1st and 4th semester) and “test” (2nd and 3rd semester) groups. The test group received an educational intervention, which included the basic, technical and operational aspects of pharmacovigilance. The improvements in the KAP scores following the intervention was compared using Wilcoxon signed rank test; student feedback on the sessions was obtained using a feedback questionnaire’ (maximum score = 100). Nearly, all students (n = 227; 99.1%) believed undergraduate medical students should be taught about ADRs and 224 (97.8%) felt ADRs reporting to be important. A statistically significant association was found between the baseline KAP scores and gender (p = 0.044), respondents’ age (p = 0.017), method of financing of education (p < 0.001), nationality (p = 0.009) and the respondents’ semester of study (p = 0.001). After the intervention, the median interquartile range (IQR) KAP scores improved from 32 (30–33) to 34 (32–36), (p < 0.001). Overall, the students’ perception regarding the module was positive. This was reflected by a high median IQR feedback scores [83 (78.0–87.0)]. Post intervention, the knowledge scores improved significantly suggesting the effectiveness of the educational modules. Student feedbacks about the modules were positive. Findings also suggest the feasibility of conducting pharmacovigilance education modules for medical students in resource limited settings.