TY - JOUR
T1 - Prescribing patterns for upper respiratory tract infections
T2 - A prescription-review of primary care practice in Kedah, Malaysia, and the implications
AU - Rezal, Rabiatul Salmi
AU - Hassali, Mohamed Azmi
AU - Alrasheedy, Alian A.
AU - Saleem, Fahad
AU - Yusof, Faridah Aryani Md
AU - Kamal, Mardhiyah
AU - Mohd Din, Rosminah
AU - Godman, Brian
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Taylor & Francis.
PY - 2015/12/2
Y1 - 2015/12/2
N2 - Introduction and aims: It is necessary to ascertain current prescribing of antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) to address potential overuse. A retrospective analysis was conducted of all prescriptions for URTIs among 10 public primary healthcare centers in Kedah, Malaysia, from 1 January to 31 March 2014. Results: A total of 123,524 prescriptions were screened and analyzed. Of these, 7129 prescriptions were for URTI, with 31.8% (n = 2269) containing antibiotics. Macrolides were the most commonly prescribed antibiotic, constituting 61% (n = 1403) of total antibiotics prescribed. There was a statistically significant association between different prescribers and diagnoses (p = 0.001) and a weak positive trend suggesting family medicine specialists are more competent in antibiotic prescribing, followed by medical officers and assistant medical officers (τ = 0.122). Conclusions: Prescribing practices of some prescribers were inconsistent with current guidelines encouraging resistance development. National antimicrobial stewardship programs and further educational initiatives are ongoing in Malaysia to improve antibiotic use.
AB - Introduction and aims: It is necessary to ascertain current prescribing of antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) to address potential overuse. A retrospective analysis was conducted of all prescriptions for URTIs among 10 public primary healthcare centers in Kedah, Malaysia, from 1 January to 31 March 2014. Results: A total of 123,524 prescriptions were screened and analyzed. Of these, 7129 prescriptions were for URTI, with 31.8% (n = 2269) containing antibiotics. Macrolides were the most commonly prescribed antibiotic, constituting 61% (n = 1403) of total antibiotics prescribed. There was a statistically significant association between different prescribers and diagnoses (p = 0.001) and a weak positive trend suggesting family medicine specialists are more competent in antibiotic prescribing, followed by medical officers and assistant medical officers (τ = 0.122). Conclusions: Prescribing practices of some prescribers were inconsistent with current guidelines encouraging resistance development. National antimicrobial stewardship programs and further educational initiatives are ongoing in Malaysia to improve antibiotic use.
KW - Malaysia
KW - antibiotics stewardship programs
KW - guidelines
KW - inappropriate use of antibiotics
KW - primary healthcare centres
KW - upper respiratory tract infections
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84949537283&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1586/14787210.2015.1085303
DO - 10.1586/14787210.2015.1085303
M3 - Review article
C2 - 26358203
AN - SCOPUS:84949537283
SN - 1478-7210
VL - 13
SP - 1547
EP - 1556
JO - Expert Review of Anti-Infective Therapy
JF - Expert Review of Anti-Infective Therapy
IS - 12
ER -