A systematic review and meta-analysis of knowledge, attitude, and practice survey on materiovigilance among healthcare professionals

TL;DR

This study finds that healthcare professionals have good attitudes but low knowledge and practice levels regarding medical device safety monitoring.

Contribution

A meta-analysis revealing the gap between positive attitudes and low engagement in adverse event reporting among healthcare professionals.

Findings

42% of healthcare professionals are unaware of ongoing materiovigilance programs.

Only 17% of healthcare professionals have reported adverse events related to medical devices.

Just 19% of healthcare professionals have participated in materiovigilance training.

Abstract

The Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) of Materiovigilance among Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) vary in nature. Inadequate awareness about Materiovigilance among HCPs restricts the effective reporting and monitoring of medical device-related adverse events.

This study aimed to analyse the current status of KAP of Materiovigilance activities among healthcare professionals in the clinical setting.

A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted in accordance with PRISMA 2020 guidelines using PubMed, Scopus, and Embase databases to assess the KAP of materiovigilance. The research studies reported on knowledge, attitude, and practice among doctors, Nurses, pharmacists, Medical Students, and allied HCPs related to Materiovigilance among HCPs were included. The quality assessment was conducted by using AXIS tool. Commonly reported questions from included studies were pooled to calculate proportions of correct and incorrect responses across the KAP domains for meta-analysis. Subgroup analysis was performed to compare KAP across different healthcare professional groups. Sensitivity analysis and Publication bias were conducted to assess the heterogeneity among the studies. Meta-analysis was conducted using R Software Version 4.5.2.

A total of 3,322 articles were retrieved, and 22 were found to be relevant eligible for full-text screening. A total of 19 studies were finally included in the meta-analysis. In the Knowledge domain, pooled prevalence revealed that 42% of healthcare professionals (95% CI 32–52%; p < 0.0001) were unaware of the ongoing materiovigilance programme. Overall, 94% (95% CI 91–96%; p < 0.0001) of healthcare professionals showed a positive attitude toward the statement that adverse event reporting will enhance patient safety. However, only 17% (95% CI 12–24%; p < 0.0001) of healthcare professionals have engaged in adverse event reporting practices. Only 19% (95% CI 10–34%; p < 0.0001) of healthcare professionals have participated in materiovigilance training programmes.

This meta-analysis concludes that HCPs have moderate level of knowledge and overwhelmingly positive attitudes, but only, limited number of HCPs reported adverse events. The Continuous Medical Education and training sessions should be arranged for the HCPs to improve their awareness and practice.

Not applicable.

PROSPERO registration number CRD420251082873.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12913-026-14154-5.

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