Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Background: All drugs can produce adverse effects, and whenever a drug is prescribed for the benefit of a patient a risk is also taken. The risk and benefit ratio decides whether to use or not to use a particular drug in a given patient. Many times adverse drug reactions remain undetected due to lack of awareness and knowledge of Pharmacovigilance. The present study was undertaken to evaluate ADRs of various drugs used in a rural medical college & Hospital of Himachal Pradesh, India. Method: We performed observational study to evaluate ADRs reported by patients due to various medicines. The study was conducted in two phases: In the first phase, a retrospective study on the clinical records of patients admitted during the past 1 year was studied and in the second phase, a 3 month prospective study was conducted on the inpatients and outpatients. The association between drug and ADR evaluated using Naranjo scale and severity of ADR was assessed by Karch & Lasagna classification. Result: A total of 117 ADR cases were found out of the 1800 patients screened in retrospectiveand prospective phases of 1 year, and 3 months respectively. Overall prevalence of ADRs was 6.5%, cases related to skin were 46, followed by GIT cases 33. Antimicrobial related ADRs were 55, NSAIDS related 16, and anti- hypertensives related 20. Conclusion: Health care professionals should have knowledge and awareness about the Adverse Drug Reactions and they should act promptly to treat and report to ADR Monitoring centre (AMC). Key words: Adverse drug reactions, Drugs, Naranjo scale, reported.