Pharmacists' involvement with and pharmacy clients' awareness of adverse drug reaction reporting in Nigeria - a mixed-methods approach

Objectives Adverse drug reactions are one of the leading causes of death, yet they are under-reported. This study assessed the involvement of community pharmacists in the identification, documentation, and reporting of adverse drug reactions and pharmacy clients' awareness of the adverse drug reaction reporting system. Methods A cross-sectional questionnaire-guided survey was conducted among 780 pharmacy clients in six selected community pharmacies, and seven mystery clients visited 125 community pharmacies in Ibadan, Nigeria. Information on pharmacy clients' experience of adverse drug reactions, to whom and how they were reported, was obtained. Female and male mystery clients' performed two scripted scenarios, complaining of black patches on their thighs and blood in their faeces, respectively. The proportion of pharmacists who identified the complaints as adverse drug reactions, documented and reported them, was described. Key findings The response rate for the pharmacy clients' survey was 98.5%. Some pharmacy clients, 385 (50.1%), had experienced adverse drug reactions; 49 (12.7%) of these pharmacy clients were hospitalised and 73 (19.0%) of them reported the adverse drug reactions to physicians or pharmacists. Most of the pharmacy clients, 706 (91.9%), did not use the available reporting system. A total of 218 mystery client visits were made. The proportion of pharmacists who recognised the mystery client complaints as adverse drug reactions was 4.9-60.3% depending on the scenario presented and up to two pharmacists documented and supposedly reported the adverse drug reactions. Conclusions Some of the pharmacy clients reported experiencing adverse drug reactions to healthcare professionals, but most did not report through the existing reporting scheme. Community pharmacists could identify adverse drug reactions but most failed to document or report them.