Abstract

The present study was performed in the cities of Faisalabad and Sargodha, and pediatric in-patient prescriptions were collected from four private and D.H.Q hospitals of these two cities. The collected data of 1420 prescriptions was analyzed for drug interactions by using the software developed by the Medical Letter. The drug interactions found were divided into severe, moderate and mild depending on the type of effect produced. The results showed that the public sector showed 820 drug interactions, that is 74.55%; on the other hand, the private sector showed 130 drug interactions, that is 40.63%. The private sector hospital of Faisalabad showed only 40 drug interactions, that is 20%; while 90 drug interactions, that is 75% were found in private sector hospital of Sargodha. The public sector hospital of Sargodha showed 390 drug interactions, 92.86% and 430 drug interactions, that is 63.24% were found in public sector hospital of Faisalabad. The results showed that the frequency of drug interactions was much less in private hospitals as compared to the public sector hospitals. The possible reason was the presence of clinical pharmacists in more numbers in the private hospitals as compared to the public sector hospitals. It is therefore required that the role of pharmacist should be increased in the hospitals.

Key words: Drug interaction, pediatrics, clinical pharmacist, comparative assessment.