Geographical differences in adverse drug reaction reporting rates in the Northern Region

The reporting rates of adverse drug reactions in the Northern Region have been examined with respect to source (hospital or general practice) and district of origin for the 3 years 1986-88. Mean annual reporting rates, corrected for population, or clinical activity, varied approximately 4-fold in general practice (0.066 to 0.257 reports per 1000 resident population) and more than 12-fold in hospitals (0.14 to 1.77 reports per 1000 deaths and discharges). There was no correlation between hospital and general practice reporting rates in the same health district. Overall more reports were received from general practice (1606) than hospitals (1000), although proportionally more reports of serious adverse reactions originated from hospitals. The reasons for these differences are unclear.