The regional profile of antibiotic prescriptions in Italian outpatient children

Piovani, Daniele; Clavenna, Antonio; Cartabia, Massimo; Bonati, Maurizio

doi:10.1007/s00228-011-1204-3

Cited by 42 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Our findings regarding paediatric cephalosporin use are in line with previous studies which reported strong variations of cephalosporin prescribing across Europe, with the lowest prescription rates in the Netherlands and Denmark [13,18-20,35]. Overall, the prescription rate of cefaclor (a second generation cephalosporin) in German children was the second highest after amoxicillin, and use of second generation cephalosporins was particularly common in very young children.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…However, our findings are in good agreement with Gagliotti et al [14] In addition, extrapolation from our findings to Italy in general is not straight forward, given considerable regional differences of prescribing patterns in Italy. Nonetheless, previous studies about marked heterogeneity of antibiotic use across Italy with up to 19% higher paediatric prevalence rates of antibiotic exposure in southern regions compared to Emilia Romagna [35] indicate, that overall paediatric antibiotic use in the Italian outpatient setting during the years of our study might have been even higher than suggested by our findings.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 63%

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Systemic antibiotic prescribing to paediatric outpatients in 5 European countries: a population-based cohort study

et al. 2014

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BackgroundTo describe the utilisation of antibiotics in children and adolescents across 5 European countries based on the same drug utilisation measures and age groups. Special attention was given to age-group-specific distributions of antibiotic subgroups, since comparison in this regard between countries is lacking so far.MethodsOutpatient paediatric prescriptions of systemic antibiotics during the years 2005-2008 were analysed using health care databases from the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy and Germany. Annual antibiotic prescription rates per 1,000 person years were estimated for each database and stratified by age (≤4, 5-9, 10-14, 15-18 years). Age-group-specific distributions of antibiotic subgroups were calculated for 2008.ResultsWith 957 prescriptions per 1000 person years, the highest annual prescription rate in the year 2008 was found in the Italian region Emilia Romagna followed by Germany (561), the UK (555), Denmark (481) and the Netherlands (294). Seasonal peaks during winter months were most pronounced in countries with high utilisation. Age-group-specific use varied substantially between countries with regard to total prescribing and distributions of antibiotic subgroups. However, prescription rates were highest among children in the age group ≤4 years in all countries, predominantly due to high use of broad spectrum penicillins.ConclusionsStrong increases of antibiotic prescriptions in winter months in high utilising countries most likely result from frequent antibiotic treatment of mostly viral infections. This and strong variations of overall and age-group-specific distributions of antibiotic subgroups across countries, suggests that antibiotics are inappropriately used to a large extent.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 63%

Systemic antibiotic prescribing to paediatric outpatients in 5 European countries: a population-based cohort study

et al. 2014

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“…One of the most alarming results concerning treatment of acute upper respiratory infections and acute tonsillitis is the use of azithromycin in a high percentage of cases (up to 13.7%), which is in line with the findings for the Netherlands, Italy and Germany also 2 7 26. The high consumption of macrolides leads to increased resistance of Streptococcus pyogenes and S. pneumonia , in the paediatric population 30…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

Use of antibiotics in paediatric primary care settings in Serbia

Božić

Bajcetic

2015

Arch Dis Child

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“…As much as 26% of visits of children aged <5 years resulted in an antibiotic prescription in office-based settings, compared to 32% in those emergency departments [27]. It has been reported that in Italian southern regions antibiotics are more frequently prescribed that in the northern and central regions [28,29]. In the present study, antibiotics were prescribed in 25% of children with a diagnosis of illness made by PCPs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

A prospective study on ambulatory care provided by primary care pediatricians during influenza season

et al. 2014

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Aim of this study was to obtain a picture of the nature of the primary care pediatricians’ visits during a winter season. We investigated reasons for visits, diagnosis, and pattern of prescription in 284 children. The reason for visit was a planned visit in 54% of cases, a well-being examination in 26%, and an urgent visit for an acute problem in 20% of cases. Cough was the most common symptom reported (61%). The most common pediatricians’ diagnosis was flu-like syndrome (47%). No disease was found by pediatrician in 27% of children with a symptom reported by caregivers. Antibiotics were prescribed in 25% of children, the vast majority of which affected by viral respiratory infections. The unjustified access to physician’s visit may lead to a inappropriate prescription of drugs.

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The regional profile of antibiotic prescriptions in Italian outpatient children

Cited by 42 publications

References 32 publications

Systemic antibiotic prescribing to paediatric outpatients in 5 European countries: a population-based cohort study

Systemic antibiotic prescribing to paediatric outpatients in 5 European countries: a population-based cohort study

Use of antibiotics in paediatric primary care settings in Serbia

A prospective study on ambulatory care provided by primary care pediatricians during influenza season

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