{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.04499437570303712, 'fraction_numerical': 0.032058492688413945, 'mean_word_length': 5.242105263157895, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 1, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 1, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Analysis of adverse drug reactions reported to national pharmacovigilance center of Bhutan

Introduction: Medicines prescribed for diseases often causes adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in patients ranging from mere inconvenience to permanent disability and death. This is because, most ADRs especially those serious and latent ones may not have occurred during their clinical trials and vulnerable populations like children, pregnant women, and the elderly are not all included in clinical trial studies considering the ethical and safety issues. Methods: A total of 222 ADR reports received at the NPC from January 2016 to May 2018 were analyzed using Epi-Data Analysis version 2.2.2.182. Descriptive statistics in frequencies and percentages were used to report the results. Categorical variables were compared using Fisher’s exact or Pearson’s Chi-Square depending upon the expected frequencies in the cells. p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant for the study. Results: Of the reports with information on sex, 143 (64.4%) concerned female and 79 (35.6%) male. Rashes (n=81, 36.5%) was the most common ADRs reported. Antibiotics was the most common causal drug for ADRs (n=108, 48.7%), particularly penicillins (n=35, 32.4%). ADRs were reported by pharmacy professionals (n=86, 38.7%), physicians (n=30, 13.5%). Conclusions: ADRs resulting from use of antibiotics, particularly penicillins, were most common. Measures to improve detection and reporting of ADRs by all categories of health care professionals (HCPs) should be undertaken, to improve reporting of ADRs. Future research may focus on exploring ADRs in female patients, particularly those on antibiotic treatments, to enhance our understanding of nature and impact of these drugs in causing ADRs.