Drug prescribing for children in general practice. A report from the Møre & Romsdal Prescription Study

Abstract

To investigate general practitioners' drug prescribing patterns for children (0–12 y), an observational, cross‐sectional study was conducted in Western Norway. Seven thousand, two hundred and twenty‐nine GP‐patient contacts during which 5222 drugs were prescribed, were included for analysis. The highest prescribing rates were for boys <2y (82.1 prescriptions per 100 contacts). Two‐thirds of all prescriptions were for drugs in main groups respiratory system or systemic antiinfectives. The 20 most commonly prescribed agents comprised 75% of all prescriptions. The 20 most frequently recorded diagnoses for prescribing comprised 81% of all. Phenoxymethylpenicillin was the most frequently prescribed antibiotic for otitis, tonsillitis and sinusitis, while erythromycin was used most often for bronchitis and pneumonia. Antibiotics were prescribed in more than 8/10 contacts for tonsillitis, sinusitis, acute bronchitis and pneumonia, and in two‐thirds of all contacts for urinary tract infections. Sixty‐five percent of the antibiotic prescriptions for urinary tract infections were for co‐trimoxazole.

Use of prescribed and non-prescribed medications among children living in poor areas in the city of Salvador, Bahia State, Brazil

“…The prevalence of use of non-prescribed medication (29.3%) corroborates findings from other studies that this practice is common, irrespective of socioeconomic status 6,23 . The most common group of therapeutic prescribed drugs (systemic antibiotics and antiasthmatics) and the most common non-prescribed drugs (analgesics/antipyretics, antitussives/expectorants and vitamins) were similar to those reported in developed countries and in Brazil 6,15,16,17,23 .…”

“…It is however important to study these patterns of drug use in pediatric populations because they involve different standards of treatment 15 . The prevalence of the use of prescribed drugs in children in developing countries varies from 50 to 80% 14,16,17,18,19 . In general, the most commonly used category of drug prescribed by a physician to children were medications that act on the respiratory system, whereas the most common type of non-prescribed drugs were analgesics 6,19 .…”

Delayed prescribing for upper respiratory tract infections: a qualitative study of GPs' views and experiences

“…1 Conditions that most frequently lead to antibiotic prescriptions are acute bronchitis, acute upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs), and acute otitis. 1 Antibiotics have only a modest role in self-limiting URTIs.…”

“…1 Conditions that most frequently lead to antibiotic prescriptions are acute bronchitis, acute upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs), and acute otitis. 1 Antibiotics have only a modest role in self-limiting URTIs. [2][3][4] Overuse of antibiotics may result in adverse drug reactions, 4 development of resistant microbes, 5 and medicalisation of self-limiting disease.…”

Prescription pattern of antibiotics in respiratory disorders in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Eastern part of India

“…Physicians must also keep a clear understanding of need for microbiological diagnosis, use of antibiotics and make good judgment in clinical situations. 11 Irrational use of antimicrobials is a key factor behind rapidly spreading antimicrobial resistance in microorganisms. 12 Limitations of present study and implications was study had certain limitations.…”