Gender differences in antibiotic prescribing in the community: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

This meta-analysis shows that women in the 16 to 54 years age group receive a significantly higher number of prescriptions of cephalosporins and macrolides in primary care than men do. Prospective studies are needed to address reasons for gender inequality in prescription and to determine whether a difference in adverse events, including resistance development, also occurs.

Gender differences in the use of anti-infective medications before and after widowhood: a register-based study

“…If men are more susceptible to infections than women, we would expect to find that the use of anti-infective medications increases more after spousal loss among men than among women. In light of previous research findings indicating that levels of all-cause medication use 10 and antibiotic use, particularly for RTIs and UTIs, are higher among women than among men, 29 we would expect to observe higher levels of anti-infective medication use among women than among men both before and after widowhood.…”

“…29 Previous studies conducted in Denmark have shown that women tend to take more all-cause medications and visit general practitioners more frequently than men. 10 These patterns may be partially explained by a greater reluctance among men than among women to seek medical advice in a timely manner.…”

“…2728 It has also been shown that women use more prescription antibiotics than men, and that most of the antibiotics women are prescribed are intended to treat respiratory tract infections (RTIs), bronchitis or urinary tract infections (UTIs). 29 In light of research evidence indicating that men have lower levels of immunocompetence than women, 30 and that the effects of widowhood on health and mortality are greater among widowers than among widows, we hypothesised that the immune defences of widowers are more compromised than the immune defences of their female counterparts. If men are more susceptible to infections than women, we would expect to find that the use of anti-infective medications increases more after spousal loss among men than among women.…”

Managing Sustainable Use of Antibiotics—The Role of Trust

“…Antibiotic use also varies by individual factors, such as knowledge [17], gender [18], education [17,19], age [20], trust in institutions [6] and interpersonal trust [6,21].…”

“…The first is age, since older patients have been found to consume more antibiotics [20], while this group also tends to report higher levels of interpersonal trust [56,57]. A second aspect is that gender has been related to cooperation in some collective action dilemmas [58], while women consume more antibiotics [18]. Furthermore, subjective health is linked to higher levels of interpersonal trust [59], and positive health decisions [60], while people with higher stated well-being are more willing to wait to consume antibiotics [6].…”