A survey of knowledge, attitude, and practices of private retail pharmacies staff in tuberculosis care: study from Dera Ismail Khan City, Pakistan

Table 3 Practices of the retail pharmacy staff related to identification and referral of the presumptive tuberculosis (TB) patients and sale of anti-TB drugs in the DI Khan city, Pakistan

	Number (%)
Total participants	82 (100)
Suspected TB patients per week
0	28 (34)
1–2	47 (57)
3–5	7 (9)
Referral of suspected TB patients
Nearby laboratory	22 (27)
Nearby GP	19 (23)
Chest physician	65 (79)
TB DOTS centre	0 (0)
No referral
Dispense broad spectrum antibiotics	11 (13)
Dispense cough syrup	28 (34)
Dispense anti-TB drugs	1 (1)
TB patients with a doctor’s prescription	82 (100)
Prescriped duration of anti-TB drugs
6 months	62 (76)
9 months	16 (19)
Do not know	4 (5)
Number of prescribed anti-TB drugs
2 medicines	25 (30)
3 medicines	39 (48)
4 medicines	18 (22)
Vitamin B6 supplement in prescription	73 (89)
Frequently sold TB medicines
4-FDC-RHZE combination	82 (100)
3-FDC-RHE combination	7 (8)
2-FDC-RH combination	79 (96)
Isoniazid	1 (1)
Pyrazinamide	0 (0)
Ethambutol	0 (0)
Streptomycin	28 (34)
Kanamycin	4 (5)
Patients buy anti-TB medicines
1 month	7 (8)
2 months	11 (13)
3 months	22 (27)
4 months	3 (4)
6 months	35 (43)
9 months	4 (5)

ISSN: 2052-3211