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 - Salmi Rezal, Rabiatul
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
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
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 ten public primary healthcare centres in Kedah, Malaysia from 1st January to 31st March 2014. Results: A total of 123,524 prescriptions were screened and analysed. 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 programmes 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 ten public primary healthcare centres in Kedah, Malaysia from 1st January to 31st March 2014. Results: A total of 123,524 prescriptions were screened and analysed. 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 programmes and further educational initiatives are ongoing in Malaysia to improve antibiotic use
KW - inappropriate use of antibiotics
KW - upper respiratory tract infections
KW - primary healthcare centres
KW - guidelines
KW - antibiotics stewardship programmes
KW - Malaysia
UR - http://informahealthcare.com/journal/erz
U2 - 10.1586/14787210.2015.1085303
DO - 10.1586/14787210.2015.1085303
M3 - Article
SN - 1478-7210
JO - Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy
JF - Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy
ER -