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Prescribing Pattern of Antibiotics by Family Physicians in Primary Health Care Publisher



Karimi G1, 2 ; Kabir K3 ; Farrokhi B4 ; Abbaszadeh E2 ; Esmaeili ED5 ; Khodamoradi F6 ; Sarbazi E5 ; Azizi H7, 8
Authors
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Authors Affiliations
  1. 1. Student Research Committee, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran
  2. 2. Savojbolagh Health Center, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran
  3. 3. Department of Community Medicine, School of Medicine, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran
  4. 4. Executive Deputy National Director for Family Medicine, Health Network Administration Center, Undersecretary for Health Affairs, Ministry of Health, Tehran, Iran
  5. 5. Road Traffic Injury Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
  6. 6. Department of Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
  7. 7. Women’s Reproductive Health Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
  8. 8. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Source: Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice Published:2023


Abstract

Purpose: Irrational prescription of antibiotics is an ongoing global public health concern, leading to antibiotic resistance. Understanding the prescribing pattern of antibiotics is important to tackling mal-prescription and antibiotic resistance. We aimed to investigate the pattern and factors affecting outpatients’ antibiotic prescribing by family physicians in Primary Health Care (PHC). Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 19 PHC facilities in Alborz province. Prescribing pattern of antibiotics was evaluated among 1068 prescriptions by family physicians. Prescribing pattern of antibiotics included prescriptions containing antibiotics, the number of antibiotics per prescription, type, name of antibiotic, and mal-prescription. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Results: Overall, 57% of the prescriptions had ≥ 1 antibiotic and the average number of antibiotics per prescription was 1.27. Amoxicillin was the commonly prescribed antibiotic. There was a significant relationship between age, sex, type of health insurance, work experience of the physician, and seasons with antibiotic prescribing (P < 0.05). In 59.31% of antibiotic prescriptions at least one of the scientific criteria was not fulfilled. In the final analysis, after adjusting for the potential confounders, field experts of physicians (OR = 1.59; 95% CI: 1.08–6.17), female sex (OR = 2.23; 95% CI: 1.18–4.21), and winter season (OR = 3.34; 95% CI: 1.26–8.15) were found associated factors with antibiotic prescribing. Conclusion: The average number of antibiotics per prescription and the percentage of irrational prescriptions were relatively high in this study. There is need to improve antibiotic prescribing patterns among family physicians working in primary health care. © 2023, The Author(s).
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