Patterns of adverse drug reaction reporting in Ethiopia:A database analysis of spontaneous reports from 2013 to 2018

Objective:To examine the frequency and profile of spontaneous reports of adverse drug reactions(ADRs)sent to Ethiopia's pharmacovigilance(PV)database system.Methods:The descriptive and retrospective study analysed spontaneous ADR complaints reported to the PV database by healthcare professionals between 2013 and 2018.Spontaneous ADR reports that reached the PV center and met the minimum reporting criteria were identified and assessed in terms of reporting rate,patient characteristics,type of ADRs,suspected drugs,report sources,and reporters’profession.Results:A total of 657 spontaneous ADR reports were filed to the PV center between 2013 and 2018.During the study period,the reporting pattern of ADRs changed dramatically.The number of reports increased from 2013(n=12)and peaked in 2015(n=205),and then declined from 2016 to 2018(n=144,142 and 65 in 2016,2017 and 2018,respectively).Females had a higher percentage of reported cases(56.3%)than males(43.7%).The highest number of ADRs was reported in the age categories of 15-64 years(475,72.3%),followed by 0-14 years(154,23.4%),and 65 years and above(21,3.2%).Pharmacists reported the majority of ADRs(81.7%),followed by health officers(7.2%),nurses(5.8%),and physicians(5.2%).Skin and subcutaneous tissue abnormalities were the most commonly reported ADRs.The anatomical therapeutic chemicals code class"anti-infective for systemic use"was the most usually suspected medication.Trimethoprim with sulfamethoxazole as a combination ADRs was the most commonly reported drug that cause ADRs(14.2%).Conclusions:The number of ADRs reported in Ethiopia was small and unpredictable compared to developed countries,indicating the performance of PV system and level of awareness of health care professionals towards ADR reporting was not satisfactory.In order to increase the frequency of spontaneous reports,more efficient PV methods and public policies must be implemented.

Landscape of DILI-related adverse drug reaction in China Mainland

Drug-induced liver injury(DILI)is a type of bizarre adverse drug reaction(ADR)damaging liver(L-ADR)which may lead to substantial hospitalizations and mortality.Due to the general low incidence,detection of L-ADR remains an unsolved public health challenge.Therefore,we used the data of 6.673 million of ADR reports from January 1st,2012 to December 31st,2016 in China National ADR Monitoring System to establish a new database of L-ADR reports for future investigation.Results showed that totally 114,357 ADR reports were retrieved by keywords searching of liver-related injuries from the original heterogeneous system.By cleaning and standardizing the data fields by the dictionary of synonyms and English translation,we resulted 94,593 ADR records reported to liver injury and then created a new database ready for computer mining.The reporting status of L-ADR showed a persistent 1.62-fold change over the past five years.The national population-adjusted reporting numbers of L-ADR manifested an upward trend with age increasing and more evident in men.The annual reporting rate of L-ADR in age group over 80 years old strikingly exceeded the annual DILI incidence rate in general population,despite known underreporting situation in spontaneous ADR reporting system.The percentage of herbal and traditional medicines(H/TM)L-ADR reports in the whole number was 4.5%,while 80.60%of the H/TM reports were new findings.There was great geographical disparity of reported agents,i.e.more cardiovascular and antineoplastic agents were reported in higher socio-demographic index(SDI)regions and more antimicrobials,especially antitubercular agents,were reported in lower SDI regions.In conclusion,this study presented a large-scale,unbiased,unified,and computer-minable L-ADR database for further investigation.Age-,sex-and SDI-related risks of L-ADR incidence warrant to emphasize the precise pharmacovigilance policies within China or other regions in the world.

Physicians’perspectives on adverse drug reactions in pediatric routine care:a survey

Background Children and adolescents are at particular risk for adverse drug reactions(ADRs).We investigated physicians’perceptions on ADRs in pediatric routine care.Methods In this exploratory study from April to November 2020,we invited physicians treating pediatric patients across Germany to complete an online questionnaire consisting mainly of closed questions.Results Completion rate was 98%(127/129).Of all participants,23%(29/127)stated they were not able to estimate how many of their pediatric patients experienced ADRs during drug therapy.The remaining physicians estimated that 7.5%(median;Q25/Q753%/20%)of their pediatric patients were afected by ADRs.Regarding counseling on ADRs,61%(77/127)stated they do not ask regularly the extent to which parents want to be informed.In total,26%(33/127)stated they avoid counseling on ADRs concerning commonly used approved therapies,whereas only 4%(5/127)did so concerning of-label use(P<0.001).Altogether,16%(20/127)stated they rather prescribe new medicines as they hope for better efectiveness;72%(91/127)said they are cautious about doing so owing to yet unknown ADRs.Of all respondents,46%(58/127)stated they do not report ADRs to the authorities.Concerning the black triangle symbol,a European pharmacovigilance measure,11%(14/127)stated they knew it and 6%(7/127)stated they reported any suspected ADR for drugs with that symbol.Conclusions Physicians’perspectives on ADRs were ambivalent:ADRs infuenced their parent counseling and drug prescribing;yet,they struggled to estimate the impact of ADRs on their patients and were not aware of specifc pharmacovigilance measures.