"Abstract:

Background: Adverse drug reactions are unpleasant reactions resulting from an intervention related to the use of a pharmaceutical product. Since pharmaceutical products are consumed on a daily basis and all at some point produce adverse drug reactions, all patients experiencing adverse drug reactions should report them assisted by the yellow forms at hospitals, pharmacies for reporting adverse drug reactions, or online, Unstructured Supplementary Service Data  and a toll-free number but reports are under the minimum World Health Organization standard. This study is aiming on the assessment of the knowledge and attitude of reporting of experienced adverse drug reactions among outpatients.

Method: A questionnaire interview based cross sectional study was used through convenient sampling during data collection on outpatients attending Machame hospital in Hai, Kilimanjaro Tanzania, from 2/4/2023 to 2/5/2023. Chi square test was used to check the association of variables outcomes.

Results and discussions: Of the 237 participants 56.9% had good knowledge and 43.1% had poor knowledge while 83.1% had positive attitude and 16.1% had a negative attitude. Of those with good knowledge 49.1% of them ever reported (P<0.05) an adverse drug reaction and those with poor knowledge only 10.6% ever reported (P <0.05). Of those with a positive attitude 30% reported (P value 0.01) and only 24.1% of those who had a neutral attitude ever reported (P <0.05).

Conclusion: The study revealed that extent of reporting rise with the level of knowledge and perception, as it was high in those with good knowledge and positive attitude than those with poor knowledge and negative attitude respectively."