Outpatient Antibiotic Prescribing Patterns in Children Among Primary Healthcare Institutions in China: A Nationwide Retrospective Study, 2017-2019

Overview

Journal Antibiotics (Basel)

Specialty Pharmacology

Date 2024 Jan 22

PMID 38247629

Authors

Haishaerjiang Wushouer

Kexin Du

Junxuan Yu

Wanmeng Zhang

Lin Hu

Weihsin Ko

Mengyuan Fu

Bo Zheng

Luwen Shi

Xiaodong Guan

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

There is scarce evidence to demonstrate the pattern of antibiotic use in children in China. We aimed to describe antibiotic prescribing practices among children in primary healthcare institutions (PHIs) in China. We described outpatient antibiotic prescriptions for children in PHIs from January 2017 to December 2019 at both the national and diagnostic levels, utilizing the antibiotic prescribing rate (APR), multi-antibiotic prescribing rate (MAPR), and broad-spectrum prescribing rate (BAPR). Generalized estimating equations were adopted to analyze the factors associated with antibiotic use. Among the total 155,262.2 weighted prescriptions for children, the APR, MAPR, and BAPR were 43.5%, 9.9%, and 84.8%. At the national level, J01DC second-generation cephalosporins were the most prescribed antibiotic category (21.0%, N = 15,313.0), followed by J01DD third-generation cephalosporins (17.4%, N = 12,695.8). Watch group antibiotics accounted for 55.0% of the total antibiotic prescriptions (N = 52,056.3). At the diagnostic level, respiratory tract infections accounted for 67.4% of antibiotic prescriptions, among which prescriptions with diagnoses classified as potentially bacterial RTIs occupied the highest APR (55.0%). For each diagnostic category, the MAPR and BAPR varied. Age, region, and diagnostic categories were associated with antibiotic use. Concerns were raised regarding the appropriateness of antibiotic use, especially for broad-spectrum antibiotics.

Citing Articles

Unraveling the Microbial Symphony: Impact of Antibiotics and Probiotics on Infant Gut Ecology and Antibiotic Resistance in the First Six Months of Life.

Qi Q, Wang L, Zhu Y, Li S, Gebremedhin M, Wang B Antibiotics (Basel). 2024; 13(7).

PMID: 39061284 PMC: 11274100. DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics13070602.

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