Physicians' insight about adverse drug reaction to frequently used medication groups in Bogota (Colombia)

Introduction: Adverse drug reactions are a public health problem; however, still many prescribers do not seem to recognize the risk associated with the use of medications. Objective: To assess the perception of the risk of adverse reactions associated with the groups of drugs most frequently used in clinical practice. Materials and methods: Descriptive study made in 200 physicians with at least 2 years of clinical experience in Bogota, Colombia. The risk of adverse drug reactions associated with the use of medications was assessed using a visual analog scale (0-10 points). Results: The perception of risk was <5 points for 19 of the 31(61%) therapeutic groups. The therapeutic groups that were related to increased perception of risk were chemotherapy for cancer (median, 8.5, interquartile range: 1.8), insulin (median, 8, interquartile range: 4.8) and anticoagulants (median, 7.5, interquartile range: 4). Conclusions: Although there is a relationship between the perception of risk and the frequency of adverse drug reactions associated with therapeutic groups of higher score, there is also a strong underestimation of the risk of medicines in common use at hospital and ambulatory level such as NSAID, antihypertensive drugs and oral contraceptives.