METHODS: Data on all ADRs reported to the National Pharmaceutical Control Bureau between 2000 and 2013 for individuals aged from birth to 17 years old were analysed with respect to age and gender, type of reporter, suspected medicines (using the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification), category of ADR (according to system organ class) as well as the severity of the ADR.
RESULTS: In total, 11,523 ADR reports corresponding to 22,237 ADRs were analysed, with half of these reporting one ADR per report. Vaccines comprised 55.7% of the 11,523 ADR reports with the remaining being drug related ADRs. Overall, 63.9% of ADRs were reported for paediatric patients between 12 and 17 years of age, with the majority of ADRs reported in females (70.7%). The most common ADRs reported were from the following system organ classes: application site disorders (32.2%), skin and appendages disorders (20.6%), body as a whole general disorders (12.8%) and central and peripheral nervous system disorders (11.2%). Meanwhile, ADRs in respect to anti-infectives for systemic use (2194/5106; 43.0%) were the most frequently reported across all age groups, followed by drugs from the nervous system (1095/5106; 21.4%). Only 0.28% of the ADR cases were reported as fatal. A large proportion of the reports were received from healthcare providers in government health facilities.
DISCUSSION: ADR reports concerning vaccines and anti-infectives were the most commonly reported in children, and are mainly seen in adolescents, with most of the ADRs manifesting in skin reactions. The majority of the ADR reports were received from nurses in the public sector, reporting ADRs associated with vaccine administration. The low fatality rate of ADR cases reported could potentially be caused by reporting bias due to the very low reporting percentage from the private healthcare institutions. This study indicates that ADR rates among Malaysian children are higher than in developed countries. Constant ADR reporting and monitoring, especially in respect to paediatric patients, should be undertaken to ensure their safety.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the rate, factors, and medications associated with ADR-related hospitalisations among HF patients.
SETTING: Two government hospitals in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
METHODS: This was a prospective, observational study. Consecutive adult HF patients who were admitted between December 2011 and November 2012 to the cardiology units were included in this study. The circumstances of their admission were analysed.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ADRs-related admissions of HF patients to cardiology units were identified and further assessed for their nature, causality, and preventability.
RESULTS: Of 511 admissions, 34 were due to ADR-related hospitalisation (6.65, 95 % confidence interval 4.8-8.5 %). Number of medications taken by HF patients was the only predictors of ADR-related hospitalisations, where higher number of medications was associated with the odd ratio of 1.11 (95 % CI, 1.03-1.20, P = 0.005). More than one-third of ADR-related hospitalisations (35 %) were preventable The most frequent drugs causing ADR-related hospitalisation were diuretics (32 %), followed by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (15 %), thiazolidinediones (9 %), anticoagulants (9 %), antiplatelets (6 %), and aldosterone blockers (6 %).
CONCLUSION: ADR-related hospitalisations account for 6.7 % of admissions of HF patients to cardiac units, one-third of which are preventable. Number of medications taken by HF patients is the only predictors of ADR-related hospitalisations. Diuretic induced volume depletion, and sodium and water retention caused by thiazolidinediones and NSAIDs medications are the major causes of ADR-related hospitalisations of HF patients.
METHODS: Data on allopurinol ADR reports (2000-2018) were extracted from the Malaysian ADR database. We identified RMMs implemented between 2000 and 2018 from the minutes of relevant meetings and the national pharmacovigilance newsletter. We obtained allopurinol utilization data (2004-2018) from the Pharmaceutical Services Programme. To determine the impact of RMMs on ADR reporting, we considered ADR reports received within 1 year of RMM implementation. We used the Pearson χ2 test to examine the relation between the implementation of RMMs and allopurinol ADR reports.
RESULTS: The 16 RMMs for allopurinol-related SCARs implemented in Malaysia involved nine risk communications, four prescriber or patient educational material, and three health system innovations. Allopurinol utilization decreased by 21.5% from 2004 to 2018. ADR reporting rates for all drugs (n = 144 507) and allopurinol (n = 1747) increased. ADR reports involving off-label use decreased by 6% from 2011. SCARs cases remained between 20% and 50%. RMMs implemented showed statistically significant reduction in ADR reports involving off-label use for August 2014 [χ2(1, N = 258) = 5.32, P = .021] and October 2016 [χ2(1, N = 349) = 3.85, P = .0499].
CONCLUSIONS: RMMs to promote the appropriate use of allopurinol and prescriber education have a positive impact. We need further measures to reduce the incidence and severity of allopurinol-induced SCARs, such as patient education and more research into pharmacogenetic screening.
METHOD: Structured interviews with community pharmacists. Informed consent was obtained and interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Content analysis of themes on awareness of ADR reporting, reporting activities, attitudes and views on patient reporting.
RESULTS: All pharmacists claimed to have some knowledge of a reporting system but only one had submitted a report directly to the regulatory authority. Despite the low level of reporting activities, all participants agreed that it was part of their professional obligation to report an ADR. Most participants were not aware of the direct patient reporting scheme and were skeptical about its success. Lack of awareness and patients' limited knowledge about their medications were viewed as barriers to patient reporting. Local attitudinal issues including pharmacists' attitude towards ADR reporting were described as possible contributing factors.
CONCLUSION: Community pharmacists have an important role in reporting ADRs. Many Malaysian patients are still perceived to be ill-informed of their medications, an important determinant to the success of patient reporting. There is a need for further training about ADRs and ADR reporting for health professionals and further education for patients.
AIM: Evaluate the differences in the degree of AEFI on each type of COVID-19 vaccine platform.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: The research used a quantitative analytical observational design with a cross sectional approach. Data collection from participants was carried out by filling out questionnaires. The collected data was tabulated and statistical analysis was carried out.
RESULTS: A total of 217 respondents who received three doses of vaccine participated in the study. Of the 651 vaccine doses studied, the results showed that there were significant differences in the degree of AEFI between the three types of vaccine platforms. The degree of AEFI was significantly different (p < 0.05) between each type of vaccine platform, with the degree of AEFI starting from the lowest, namely inactivated vaccine, then viral vector vaccine and the highest was nucleic acid vaccine.
CONCLUSION: The degree of AEFI differs significantly between each COVID-19 vaccine platform. The degree of AEFI, from the mildest to the most severe, was inactivated vaccine, viral vector vaccine and nucleic acid vaccine. No serious AEFI was reported.
METHODS: All ADR associated with the use of CAM products (including health supplements) submitted to the Malaysian Centre for ADR Monitoring, National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency over a 15-year period were reviewed and analysed. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify predictors of serious ADR.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: From a total of 74 997 reports in the database, 930 (1.2%) involved CAM products, and 242 (26%) were serious with 36 deaths. About a third of the reports involved used CAM products for health maintenance. Most (78.1%) of the ADR reports implicated unregistered products with 16.7% confirmed to contain adulterants which were mainly dexamethasone. Of the 930 reports, the ADR involved skin and appendages disorders (18.4%) followed by liver and biliary system disorders (13.7%). The odds of someone experiencing serious ADR increased if the CAM products were used for chronic illnesses (odds ratio [OR] 1.99, confidence interval [CI] 1.46-2.71), having concurrent diseases (OR 1.51, CI 1.04-2.19) and taking concurrent drugs (OR 1.44, CI 1.03-2.02).
WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of serious ADR associated with CAM products is high. Factors identified with serious ADR included ethnicity, CAM users with pre-existing diseases, use of CAM for chronic illnesses and concomitant use of CAM products with other drugs. The findings could be useful for planning strategies to institute measures to ensure safe use of CAM products.
METHOD: A cross-sectional study was planned to approach potential respondents for the study. A self-administered questionnaire was delivered to community pharmacists/pharmacy technicians (N=292) practising in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
RESULTS: The overall response to the survey was 69.5% (n=203). The majority of the sample was comprised of pharmacy technicians (152, 74.9%) who possessed a diploma in pharmacy, followed by pharmacists (37, 18.2%) and others (12, 5.9%). Overall, 72 (35.5%) of the respondents disclosed that they had experienced an ADR at their pharmacy, yet more than half (105, 51.7%) were not familiar with the existence of an ADR reporting body in Bangladesh. Exploring the barriers to the reporting of ADRs, it was revealed that the top four barriers to ADR reporting were 'I do not know how to report (Relative Importance Index (RII)=0.998)', 'reporting forms are not available (0.996)', 'I am not motivated to report (0.997)' and 'Unavailability of professional environment to discuss about ADR (RII=0.939)'. In addition to these, a majority (141, 69.46%) were not confident about the classification of ADRs (RII=0.889) and were afraid of legal liabilities associated with reporting ADRs (RII=0.806). Moreover, a lack of knowledge about pharmacotherapy and the detection of ADRs was another major factor hindering their reporting (RII=0.731).
CONCLUSIONS: The Directorate of Drug Administration in Bangladesh needs to consider the results of this study to help it improve and simplify ADR reporting in Bangladeshi community pharmacy settings.
METHODS: The ADR reports recorded between 2000 and 2017 were retrospectively analysed to identify hepatic ADR reports. The trend and characteristics of hepatic ADR cases were described. Multivariate disproportionality analysis of the causative agents was performed to generate signals of hepatic ADRs.
RESULTS: A total of 2090 hepatic ADRs (1.77% of all ADRs) were reported with mortality rate of 12.7% among cases with known clinical outcomes. The incidence of hepatic ADR reporting in Malaysia increased significantly over 18 years from 0.26 to 9.45 per million population (P drugs (n = 268, 12.82%) was the most common suspected class of causative agents with a reporting odds ratio (ROR) and 95% CI of 8.39 (7.26-9.70), followed by traditional/complementary medicines or herbal/dietary supplements (TCM/HDS) (n = 235, 11.24%, ROR 3.26 [2.84-3.75]), systemic antibacterials (n = 159, 7.61%, ROR 2.65 [2.25-3.13]), lipid modifying agents (n = 142, 6.79%, ROR 2.21 [1.86-2.63]) and amiodarone (n = 137, 6.56%, ROR 35.25 [28.40-43.75]). Most (72.9%) of the TCM/HDS were not registered with the authorities.
CONCLUSIONS: Hepatic ADR cases have increased significantly in Malaysia, with antituberculosis drugs, systemic antibacterials, and TCM/HDS being the most common causative agents reported. Most TCM/HDS reported to be associated with hepatic ADR were not registered with the authorities.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Given the current lack of evidence on quality and safety improvements and on the cost-benefits associated with the introduction of eHealth applications, there should be a focus on implementing more mature technologies; it is also important that eHealth applications should be evaluated against a comprehensive and rigorous set of measures, ideally at all stages of their application life cycle.