Evaluation of Awareness, Attitude, Practice and Barriers of Adverse Events Associated with Medical Devices among Medical Doctors of Gujarat, India: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: In this era of technology, the use of medical devices for betterment of patients is rapidly rising. Along with the usage, adverse events also tend to occur more with these devices. Materiovigilance Program of India (MvPI) refers to close observation of medical device-related adverse events by a well-coordinated surveillance system of detection, collection, assessment, reporting, and prevention of those events.

Aim: To evaluate the awareness, attitude, practice and barriers of adverse events associated with medical devices among doctors.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Sangini Hospital, Gujarat, India, among 174 doctors which included medical consultants, resident doctors and intern doctors for a duration of two months from 5th November 2022 to 5th January 2023. The questionnaire was administered containing 26 questions related to awareness, attitude, practice and barriers of materiovigilance. The responses were collected via social media platform. Analysis was done in percentages and numbers and using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software, version 26.0. The p-value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant.

Results: Out of 174 responders, 106 (60.9%) were males, while 68 (39.1%) were females. Mean age in present study was 27±5.3 years. There were 54 consultants, 61 residents and 59 interns. Most of the participants (98.27%) were having positive attitude, whereas, 72.98% participants had knowledge about materiovigilance and 63.21% participants have reported adverse events related to devices. Overall Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) of resident doctors was better, as compared to consultants and interns in the present study.

Conclusion: Even though there was inadequate awareness and practice, optimism in attitude was found in participants. There is a need to conduct regular workshops and training sessions for doctors to make reporting feasible and easy to reduce mishaps due to medical devices in future.