Abstract

Currently, adverse drug reactions are the 6th global leading cause of death. In sub-Saharan Africa, 6.3% of hospital
admissions are a direct result of adverse drug reactions. The aim of this study was to evaluate adverse drug reaction
reporting systems in hospitals and health centers IV and III in the Bushenyi district, Uganda. This study employed
a cross-sectional study among 225 health professionals including pharmacists, intern pharmacists, nurses, midwives,
intern nurses, doctors, intern doctors, and then the clinical officers. Data was collected with the help of
questionnaires entered into SPSS version 25 for analysis. The analyzed information was presented in the form of
tables and graphs. A great number of 80 (35.6%) were from Kampala International University Teaching Hospital,
the majority 132(58.7%) were aged 26-45 years, many 121(53.8%) were females and 104 (45.3%) were males. The
majority 98(43.6%) were certificate holders and 117 (52.0%) were adverse drug reaction nurses. The majority 164
(72.9%) of the health facilities had adverse drug reaction reporting systems and 50(22.2%) said they didn’t have. 160
(71.1%) respondents had ever detected drug adverse reactions. Of these 133(83.1%) reported these reactions and
27(19.9%) didn’t report the adverse drug reaction. Most 95(59.4%) of the adverse drug reaction cases are reported
to doctors, 30(18.6%) were reported to pharmacists and lastly 3(2.3%) were reported to the National drug authority
(NDA). According to the study, the adverse drug reaction reporting system was in existence with adverse drug
reaction reporting forms being the commonest adverse drug reaction reporting tool. Health workers who had heard
about adverse drug reactions were 12 times more likely to report adverse drug reaction reactions compared to their
counterparts. In addition, the lowest rate of reporting adverse drug reactions was seen at Ishaka Adventist Hospital
and Comboni Hospital. Most of the health workers had ever detected adverse drug reactions and 83.1% of them
reported adverse drug reactions but to the wrong authorities (doctors and pharmacists) using majorly phone calls.
Therefore, NDA, Pharmacovigilance Center, pharmacovigilance coordinators at regional hospitals, and online
platforms were not properly utilized