OBJECTIVES To investigate knowledge and perceptions about antibiotic prescription in two university hospitals. METHODS Physicians completed four case vignettes describing infections and a questionnaire. For each vignette, the physicians were asked to determine whether hospital admission and antibiotic treatment were needed; whether a treatment change was needed; and the duration of antibiotic...

Introduction. Antimicrobial resistance is a global health issue. Studies have shown that improved antibiotic prescription education among healthcare professionals reduces mistakes during the antibiotic prescription process. The aim of this study was to investigate novel educational approaches that through the use of Augmented Reality technology could make use of the real physical context and th...

OBJECTIVES The volume of prescribed antibiotics is associated with antimicrobial resistance and, unlike most other antibiotic classes, flucloxacillin prescribing has increased. We aimed to describe UK primary care flucloxacillin prescribing and factors associated with subsequent antibiotic prescribing as a proxy for non-response. PATIENTS AND METHODS Clinical Practice Research Datalink patien...

BACKGROUND Antibiotics are considered among the most commonly prescribed drug classes in developing countries. Inappropriate prescription of antibiotics is a major public health concern and is related to the development of antimicrobial resistance. OBJECTIVE This study aimed at assessing the appropriateness of antibiotic prescription by non-infectious disease physicians in a community setting...

Objective. To determine if use of a homeopathic ear drop preparation reduces antibiotic use in children diagnosed with acute otitis media (AOM). Methods. Children 6 months to 11 years old, diagnosed with AOM and managed with a delayed antibiotic approach, were randomized to standard therapy alone or standard therapy plus a homeopathic ear drop preparation. The primary outcome was whether or not...

Consumption of antibiotics leads to emergence and selection of antimicrobial-resistant bacterial strains which have become a problem in most countries. Despite the fact that antibiotics are considered as prescription-only medicines, these drugs are often requested by and dispensed to patients without a medical prescription in many areas of the world. Despite being illegal, over-the-counter sale...

BACKGROUND To assess the relationship between any systemic antibiotic prescription within the first year of life and the presence of an ICD-9-CM diagnosis code for food allergy (FA). METHODS This was a matched case-control study conducted using South Carolina Medicaid administrative data. FA cases born between 2007 and 2009 were matched to controls without FA on birth month/year, sex, race/et...

BACKGROUND To 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. METHODS Outpatient paediatric prescriptions of systemic antibiotics...

BACKGROUND Overprescribing antibiotics for common or inaccurately diagnosed childhood infections is a frequent problem in primary healthcare in most countries. Delayed antibiotic prescriptions have been shown to reduce the use of antibiotics in primary healthcare. OBJECTIVE The aim was to examine primary care physicians' views on delayed antibiotic prescriptions to preschool children with sym...

INTRODUCTION General practitioners (GPs) write about 80% of all antibiotic prescriptions, the greatest number of them for patients with respiratory tract infections. However, there is a lack of research targeting the influence of external factors on antibiotic prescribing by physicians. This study aimed to explore experiences of GPs in Lithuania and the Russian Federation with regard to antibio...