CClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT02134587EIPhvUpdated Jun 5, 2023Results posted

Educational Intervention in Pharmacovigilance for Hospital Health Professionals

An interventional study of Multifaceted educational intervention in Adverse Drug Reaction, sponsored by Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho. Completed at 1 site in Brazil. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2023-06-05.

Sponsored by Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho · Not applicable, Interventional, and Other

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
203
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Spontaneous reports by health professionals generate the signals in pharmacovigilance. However, the passive method has limitations and the most important of them are the underreporting and the poor quality of data, hindering the causality assessment of adverse drug events (ADE). Therefore, the present study aimed to validate an educational intervention (EI) in pharmacovigilance for hospital health professionals, in order to analyze the impact on the knowledge, skill and attitude in ADE reporting.

Investigators proposed a multifaceted EI which will be developed in four meetings with one hour each. The following activities will be carried out: application of a questionnaire to assess the knowledge, skill and attitude before and after EI; lecture; practical class and education material distribution. The answers of questionnaire are going to be analyzed using content analysis technique. The definitions of World Health Organization and the minimum and desired criteria to fill the ADE form, according to the Pan American Health Organization, are going to be considered gold-standard answers. The statistical test of Wilcoxon-Mann Whitney test for paired samples will be applied, in order to assess the impact of educational intervention on behavior of health professionals (ADE reporting).

With the present study, the following hypotheses will be tested:

H0= There is no difference between the numbers of ADE reported (behavior/attitudes) before and after the educational intervention.

H1= The numbers of ADE reported before and after the educational intervention are different.

Read the detailed description

A quasi-experimental study with health professionals who acted in a general and public hospital of medium complexity with 104 beds will be performed.

Investigators proposed an educational intervention, with the development of lecture and practical class, application of questionnaire before and after EI and the distribution of educational material. Activities will be developed in four meetings of one hour each one.

In the first meeting, questionnaire will be applied, in order to assess knowledge, skills and attitudes in pharmacovigilance prior to EI. The instrument was elaborated based on previous studies. Second meeting will be comprise a lecture regarding the theoretical framework and importance of pharmacovigilance, and distribution of educational material, whose content includes the same issues of presentation. In the third meeting, a practical class will be performed to promote a discussion of a fictitious case of adverse drug reaction (ADR), in order to elucidate the correct fill of ADE form. In the fourth meeting, will be repeated the application of questionnaire, in order to assess the impact of EI. With the aim to verify change behavior of health professionals regarding pharmacovigilance activities, the number of ADE reports made prior and after intervention will be compared.

02

Conditions studied

  • Adverse Drug Reaction

Keywords

  • Health knowledge, attitudes, practices.
  • Adverse drug reaction reporting systems.
  • Pharmacovigilance. Product Surveillance, Postmarketing.
  • Drug-related side effects and adverse reactions.
03

In context

Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions

437 studies on the registry are indexed under Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions; 76 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 203 is above the median of 103 across 255 interventional studies indexed under Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions.

Browse Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions studies →

Lead sponsor

Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho is the lead sponsor of 82 studies on the registry; 9 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

All health professionals (physicians, pharmacists, nurses, auxiliaries of nurses and pharmacists, as well as the multidisciplinary team - social assistants, physiotherapists, audiologists, nutritionists, psychologists, occupational therapists and administrative officers), with employment link at the hospital under study who agree to participate by signing an informed consent form are going to be enrolled.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

The exclusion criteria meet professionals who will be on sick leave, vacation, those who will not to be registered to carry out the intervention and those who will refuse to answer the questionnaire, despite to having shown interest in participating in the lecture and practical class.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Other
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
203 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Other
    Subjects post educational intervention

    Multifaceted educational intervention in pharmacovigilance

    Other: Multifaceted educational intervention

Interventions

  • OtherMultifaceted educational intervention

    1. Application of questionnaire of knowledge, attitudes and skills in pharmacovigilance. 2. Lecture regarding the theoretical framework and importance of pharmacovigilance, and distribution of educational material 3. Distribution of educational material 4. Practical class to explain the correct fill of adverse drug events form 5. Reapplication of questionnaire of knowledge, attitudes and skills in pharmacovigilance.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Absolute Number of ADE Reporting (Change Behavior of Health Professionals)

    Investigators are going to verify the numbers of adverse drug events reported by health professionals which was made 12 months before educational intervention. A follow up across 12 months post-educational intervention also will be performed, in order to identify the number of adverse drug events reported by health professionals. Prevalence of ADE in both periods will be estimated and compared, in order to asses the impact of the intervention on change behavior of health professionals.

    Time frame: 12 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. Knowledge (Awareness) Regarding Pharmacovigilance

    Knowledge assessment will be performed by content analysis of answers obtained from questionnaire, being assigned scores from zero to ten. Definitions related to pharmacovigilance of World Health Organization will be considered gold-standard answers. Scores below five will be classified as unsatisfactory, among five and 7.5 were considered regular and above 7.6 satisfactory on the knowledge acquisition.The questionnaire will be applied in the first (prior to educational intervention) and fourth (post-educational intervention period) meetings. Data will be compared, in order to assess the impact of educational intervention on knowledge of health professionals.

    Time frame: Two days

  2. Quality of ADE Reports

    Skills evaluation will be carried out according to the perception of the voluntary regarding the relevance´s degree of the information to be filled in ADE form. Therefore, in the first (prior to educational intervention) and fourth (post-educational intervention period) meetings, subjects will be asked to highlight the fields of ADE form, according to unnecessary, necessary or essential information to be reported. Minimal and desirable criteria to be filled in ADE form preconized by Pan-American Health Organization will be considered gold-standard answers. Scores from zero to ten will be assigned, according to gold-standard answers. Data will be compared, in order to estimate the impact of educational intervention on skills to fill ADE form.

    Time frame: Two days

07

Results

Posted Aug 20, 2015

Participant flow

Participant flow — Overall Study
MilestoneSubjects Post Educational Intervention
Started203
Completed173
Not completed30
Withdrew: Did not completed all meetings30

Outcome measures

PrimaryAbsolute Number of ADE Reporting (Change Behavior of Health Professionals)

Investigators are going to verify the numbers of adverse drug events reported by health professionals which was made 12 months before educational intervention. A follow up across 12 months post-educational intervention also will be performed, in order to identify the number of adverse drug events reported by health professionals. Prevalence of ADE in both periods will be estimated and compared, in order to asses the impact of the intervention on change behavior of health professionals.

Time frame:
12 months
Reported as:
Number · absolute number of adverse drug events
Absolute Number of ADE Reporting (Change Behavior of Health Professionals)
absolute number of adverse drug eventsSubjects Post Educational InterventionSubjects Prior to Educational Intervention
Absolute Number of ADE Reporting (Change Behavior of Health Professionals)2153
SecondaryKnowledge (Awareness) Regarding Pharmacovigilance

Knowledge assessment will be performed by content analysis of answers obtained from questionnaire, being assigned scores from zero to ten. Definitions related to pharmacovigilance of World Health Organization will be considered gold-standard answers. Scores below five will be classified as unsatisfactory, among five and 7.5 were considered regular and above 7.6 satisfactory on the knowledge acquisition.The questionnaire will be applied in the first (prior to educational intervention) and fourth (post-educational intervention period) meetings. Data will be compared, in order to assess the impact of educational intervention on knowledge of health professionals.

Time frame:
Two days
Reported as:
Median · percentage of right answers
Knowledge (Awareness) Regarding Pharmacovigilance
percentage of right answersSubjects Post Educational InterventionSubjects Prior to Educational Intervention
Knowledge (Awareness) Regarding Pharmacovigilance5.2 (0.9 to 9.3)2.3 (0.0 to 6.6)
Statistical analysis
  • Subjects Post Educational Intervention · Wilcoxon (Mann-Whitney) · p = 0.00001
SecondaryQuality of ADE Reports

Skills evaluation will be carried out according to the perception of the voluntary regarding the relevance´s degree of the information to be filled in ADE form. Therefore, in the first (prior to educational intervention) and fourth (post-educational intervention period) meetings, subjects will be asked to highlight the fields of ADE form, according to unnecessary, necessary or essential information to be reported. Minimal and desirable criteria to be filled in ADE form preconized by Pan-American Health Organization will be considered gold-standard answers. Scores from zero to ten will be assigned, according to gold-standard answers. Data will be compared, in order to estimate the impact of educational intervention on skills to fill ADE form.

Time frame:
Two days
Reported as:
Median · percent of correctly filled forms
Quality of ADE Reports
percent of correctly filled formsSubjects Post Educational InterventionSubjects Prior to Educational Intervention
Quality of ADE Reports5.2 (0.0 to 9.2)3.9 (0.0 to 8.0)
Statistical analysis
  • Subjects Post Educational Intervention · Wilcoxon (Mann-Whitney) · p = <0.0001

Adverse events

Collected over Adverse Events were not monitored/assessed.. Non-serious events are listed at a 0% frequency threshold.

Adverse event summary by group
GroupDeathsSeriousOther
Subjects Post Educational Intervention———

Baseline characteristics

Age, Continuous
Age, Continuous(years)Subjects Post Educational Intervention
Median30.6 ± 6.5
Sex: Female, Male
Sex: Female, Male(Participants)Subjects Post Educational Intervention
Female150
Male23
Region of Enrollment
Region of Enrollment(participants)Subjects Post Educational Intervention
Brazil173
08

Study locations

1 site
  • Hospital Estadual Américo Brasiliense
    Américo Brasiliense, São Paulo 14820-000, Brazil
09

References and documents

Publications

  • Figueiras A, Tato F, Fontainas J, Gestal-Otero JJ. Influence of physicians' attitudes on reporting adverse drug events: a case-control study. Med Care. 1999 Aug;37(8):809-14. doi: 10.1097/00005650-199908000-00010. PubMed 10448723 ↗
  • Herdeiro MT, Figueiras A, Polonia J, Gestal-Otero JJ. Physicians' attitudes and adverse drug reaction reporting : a case-control study in Portugal. Drug Saf. 2005;28(9):825-33. doi: 10.2165/00002018-200528090-00007. PubMed 16119975 ↗
  • Herdeiro MT, Figueiras A, Polonia J, Gestal-Otero JJ. Influence of pharmacists' attitudes on adverse drug reaction reporting : a case-control study in Portugal. Drug Saf. 2006;29(4):331-40. doi: 10.2165/00002018-200629040-00004. PubMed 16569082 ↗
  • Gerritsen R, Faddegon H, Dijkers F, van Grootheest K, van Puijenbroek E. Effectiveness of pharmacovigilance training of general practitioners: a retrospective cohort study in the Netherlands comparing two methods. Drug Saf. 2011 Sep 1;34(9):755-62. doi: 10.2165/11592800-000000000-00000. PubMed 21830837 ↗
  • Pedros C, Vallano A, Cereza G, Mendoza-Aran G, Agusti A, Aguilera C, Danes I, Vidal X, Arnau JM. An intervention to improve spontaneous adverse drug reaction reporting by hospital physicians: a time series analysis in Spain. Drug Saf. 2009;32(1):77-83. doi: 10.2165/00002018-200932010-00007. PubMed 19132807 ↗
  • Figueiras A, Herdeiro MT, Polonia J, Gestal-Otero JJ. An educational intervention to improve physician reporting of adverse drug reactions: a cluster-randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2006 Sep 6;296(9):1086-93. doi: 10.1001/jama.296.9.1086. PubMed 16954488 ↗
  • Herdeiro MT, Ribeiro-Vaz I, Ferreira M, Polonia J, Falcao A, Figueiras A. Workshop- and telephone-based interventions to improve adverse drug reaction reporting: a cluster-randomized trial in Portugal. Drug Saf. 2012 Aug 1;35(8):655-65. doi: 10.1007/BF03261962. PubMed 22788235 ↗
  • Herdeiro MT, Polonia J, Gestal-Otero JJ, Figueiras A. Improving the reporting of adverse drug reactions: a cluster-randomized trial among pharmacists in Portugal. Drug Saf. 2008;31(4):335-44. doi: 10.2165/00002018-200831040-00007. PubMed 18366244 ↗
  • Ribeiro-Vaz I, Herdeiro MT, Polonia J, Figueiras A. Strategies to increase the sensitivity of pharmacovigilance in Portugal. Rev Saude Publica. 2011 Feb;45(1):129-35. doi: 10.1590/s0034-89102010005000050. Epub 2010 Nov 12. English, Portuguese. PubMed 21085884 ↗
  • Biagi C, Montanaro N, Buccellato E, Roberto G, Vaccheri A, Motola D. Underreporting in pharmacovigilance: an intervention for Italian GPs (Emilia-Romagna region). Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 2013 Feb;69(2):237-44. doi: 10.1007/s00228-012-1321-7. Epub 2012 Jun 17. PubMed 22706618 ↗
10

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jun 5, 2023, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
11

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02134587
Lead sponsor
Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho
Responsible party
Fabiana Rossi Varallo (Clinical pharmacist and PhD student, Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho) — Principal investigator
First posted
May 9, 2014
Start date
Feb 2012
Primary completion
Sep 2013
Completion
May 2014
Results posted
Aug 20, 2015
Last update
Jun 5, 2023

Study contacts

Patricia C Mastroianni, PhD
study chair · School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Unesp
Fabiana R Varallo, Master
principal investigator · School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Unesp

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Jun 2023. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Start the discussion