Introduction
The underreporting of adverse drug events (ADEs) is an important issue that affects the evaluation of the risk/benefit profile of drugs, with the potential for major impact on public health, such as undermining market regulation of drugs and reducing patient safety.
Objectives
The objective of this systematic review was to identify and categorize the factors that motivate ADE reporting by healthcare professionals.
Methods
A systematic review was conducted, based on the PRISMA guidelines, in the PubMed, Scopus, LILACS and SciELO databases, for studies published up to 30 November 2015. A search strategy was designed to identify published studies that evaluated factors that motivate professionals to report adverse events. Factors that were identified as influencing ADE reporting were subsequently categorized by the authors, to reveal common themes that might be used to improve ADE reporting rates.
Results
There were 410 potentially relevant studies identified, of which 133 were duplicates and 234 did not meet the inclusion criteria at initial screening. After reading in full, a further 15 articles were eliminated and 28 articles were included in the systematic review. It was observed that the majority of studies mainly contemplated pharmacists (n = 16) and physicians (n = 16). The seven major categories that motivate ADE reporting by health professionals are: knowledge of the ADE, incentives, notification methods, educational intervention, risk management, educational materials, and professional responsibility.
Conclusions
Factors that motivate healthcare professional to report ADEs can be classified into seven common themes. It is likely that multiple categories will need to be addressed as part of ongoing continuing education programs to increase motivation for ADE reporting by healthcare professionals.