my personal edition > paediatrics > news


  E-Mail this DGReview to a colleague

DGReview

Inappropriate Antibiotic Use Still Common In Children In United States

Despite modest improvements in prescription rates, inappropriate antibiotic use is still common in the treatment of children in the United States.

These findings were among data taken from the latest United States National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS), 1995 through 1998.

"Almost half of patients with upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) received antibiotics even though these conditions are known to be of viral origin," say investigators led by David Nash, MD, of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pennsylvania.

"Our results suggest that interventions to improve the prescribing of antibiotics should focus on changing treatment patterns for both URTIs and bronchitis," the researchers add.

NAMCS data from paediatricians, family doctors and generalists treating children younger than 18 years were analysed. Multivariate analyses were used to examine factors associate with inappropriate antibiotic use in treating either URTIs or bronchitis.

Results indicate patients seen in 1998 were 0.69 times less likely to be treated with antibiotics than those treated in 1995. Children with sinusitis or otitis media were 0.3 times less likely to receive antibiotics with a sub-optimal therapeutic effects in 1998 compared with 1995.

The researchers concluded that US doctors are slowly improving their antibiotic prescribing patterns but that the use of inappropriate antibiotics is "still common." They note almost half of URTI patients receive antibiotics.
Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 2002; 156: 1114-1119. "Antibiotic Prescribing by Primary Care Physicians for Children With Upper Respiratory Tract Infections"

E-Mail this DGReview to a colleague

To print, use this version