Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology

Behavioural and Contextual Determinants of Drug Adverse Event Reporting Among Healthcare Cadres

Workplace: Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University
Supervisor: doc. Abanoub Riad, Ph.D.

Adverse event reporting by healthcare cadres represents a fundamental component of pharmacovigilance systems, yet persistent underreporting and variation in reporting quality continue to limit the effectiveness of safety surveillance. Existing evidence indicates that reporting behaviour is shaped by a combination of behavioural and contextual determinants, including knowledge, perceived relevance, professional expectations, perceived consequences, workload pressures, and workplace norms across different cadres. Despite this complexity, there is no comprehensive, empirically validated framework that captures the full spectrum of factors influencing reporting practices among healthcare professionals.

This doctoral project seeks to address this gap by systematically examining the behavioural and contextual determinants that influence drug adverse event reporting across key healthcare cadres. Using a mixed-methods design, the project will explore perceived barriers and facilitators, develop a structured measurement instrument grounded in clearly defined behavioural constructs, and validate this instrument through robust psychometric procedures. The findings will support evidence-based strategies to strengthen pharmacovigilance practice, enhance the completeness and accuracy of adverse event reporting, and contribute to improved patient safety at both clinical and regulatory levels.

Objectives

1. To identify behavioural, cognitive, and contextual factors that influence adverse event reporting among healthcare professionals.
2. To develop and psychometrically validate a structured measurement instrument capturing the determinants of reporting behaviour.
3. To assess reporting practices and their determinants within a national sample of healthcare professionals and propose evidence-based recommendations for strengthening pharmacovigilance.

Applicant Requirements

Educational Background:

• Master’s degree in Public Health or Epidemiology (MPH / MSc), or
• Master’s degree in General Medicine or equivalent (MDDr. / MD / MBBS / MBBCh / DO), or
• Master’s degree in Pharmacy or equivalent (PharmDr. / Mgr. / MPharm / PharmD / BPharm / BSPharm)

Preferred Competencies:

• Experience with research in social epidemiology or social medicine
• Experience with quantitative data analysis (e.g., SPSS or R)
• Excellent command of English

Number of Positions: 1

Connection to Grant Project: Yes (NW26J-09-00120)

Supervisor Profile

doc. Abanoub Riad, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at the Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University. His research focuses on preventive medicine, drug safety, health psychology, oral health and vaccines. He has an H-index of 35 (Web of Science) and 36 (Scopus), with 6,343 citations in Web of Science and 7,357 citations in Scopus. He has authored 108 journal articles indexed in both Web of Science and Scopus and has edited three text-books. He has completed 434 verified peer reviews (Web of Science) and serves in editorial roles at several leading journals, including the Journal of Public Health, International Journal of Public Health, Central European Journal of Public Health, and BMC Public Health. He currently supervises two Ph.D. students and consults one candidate at the defense stage. He is principal investigator of one national AZV grant and two MUNI-IGA projects, and co-investigator on additional national and institutional grants (TAČR, MŠMT, and MUNI-IGA).