ArticleBMC infectious diseases2016
Antibiotic prescribing in public and private practice: a cross-sectional study in primary care clinics in Malaysia.
Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 66 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
66 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Prevalence of antibiotics prescription amongst patients with and without COVID-19 in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Pathogens and global health · 2023Pooled it
- Antibiotic prescription practices in primary care in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PLoS medicine · 2020Pooled it
- Clinicians' perspectives on a primary healthcare intervention to reduce antibiotic prescription for acute lower respiratory tract infections in Barcelona (Spain): a qualitative study.Primary health care research & development · 2025Trial
- Results from a Patient-Based Health Education Intervention in Reducing Antibiotic Use for Acute Upper Respiratory Tract Infections in the Private Sector Primary Care Setting in Singapore.Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2017Trial
- Addressing low-value care (LVC) in Asia: a narrative review of Choosing Wisely and other initiatives across Asia.BMJ open quality · 2026Review
- Landscape of national antibiotic utilisation in Malaysia: an analysis of national pharmaceutical sales data from 2019 to 2023.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2026Article
- Prevalence and patterns of antibiotic prescriptions in Conakry hospitals, Guinea: a multicentre cross-sectional survey.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2025Article
- Antibiotic prescribing for outpatients with respiratory tract infections in public and private clinics of a resource-constrained setting, northern Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Rational use of antibiotics at primary & secondary healthcare facilities in district Panchkula, Haryana, North India: A cross-sectional study.The Indian journal of medical research · 2025Article
- Adherence to the current guidelines on antibiotic prescription among dental practitioners: A national survey.PloS one · 2025Article
- A comparison between antibiotic utilisation in public and private community healthcare in Malaysia.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Improving Antimicrobial Utilization and Infection Control in Ophthalmology: An Information-Assisted Transparent Supervision and Multidisciplinary Team Model.Infection and drug resistance · 2024Article
- Dentists' attitudes and prescription practices for analgesics and antibiotics in Kirkuk Governorate, Iraq.Journal of medicine and life · 2023Article
- A brief history of and future prospects for pneumococcal vaccination in Malaysia.Pneumonia (Nathan Qld.) · 2023Review
- Socio-Demographic Factors and Public Knowledge of Antibiotic Resistance.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Social demographics determinants for resistome and microbiome variation of a multiethnic community in Southern Malaysia.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2023Article
- Understanding Health Worker and Community Antibiotic Prescription-Adherence Practices for Acute Febrile Illness: A Nested Qualitative Study in the Shai-Osudoku District of Ghana and the Development of a Training-and-Communication Intervention.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2023Article
- Practices and challenges related to antibiotic use in paediatric treatment in hospitals and health centres in Niger and Uganda: a mixed methods study.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2023Article
- Outpatient antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory infections in Vietnamese primary care settings by the WHO AWaRe (Access, Watch and Reserve) classification: An analysis using routinely collected electronic prescription data.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2023Article
- Overuse of medications in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review.Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 2023Article
6 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAntibiotic overuse is driving the emergence of antibiotic resistance worldwide. Good data on prescribing behaviours of healthcare providers are needed to support antimicrobial stewardship initiatives. This study examined the differences in antibiotic prescribing rates of public and private primary care clinics in Malaysia.
methodsWe used data from the National Medical Care Survey (NMCS), a nationwide cluster sample of Malaysian public and private primary care clinics in 2014. NMCS contained demographic, diagnoses and prescribing from 129 public clinics and 416 private clinics. We identified all encounters who were prescribed antibiotic and analyse the prescribing rate, types of antibiotics, and diagnoses that resulted in antibiotic.
resultsFive thousand eight hundred ten encounters were prescribed antibiotics; antibiotic prescribing rate was 21.1 % (public clinics 6.8 %, private clinics 30.8 %). Antibiotic prescribing was higher in private clinics where they contributed almost 87 % of antibiotics prescribed in primary care. Upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) was the most frequent diagnosis in patients receiving antibiotic therapy and accounted for 49.2 % of prescriptions. Of the patients diagnosed with URTI, 46.2 % received antibiotic treatment (public 16.8 %, private 57.7 %). Penicillins, cephalosporins and macrolides were the most commonly prescribed antibiotics and accounted for 30.7, 23.6 and 16.0 % of all antibiotics, respectively. More recently available broad-spectrum antibiotics such as azithromycin and quinolones were more frequently prescribed in private clinics.
conclusionsAntibiotic prescribing rates are high in both public and private primary care settings in Malaysia, especially in the latter. This study provides evidence of excessive and inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for self-limiting conditions. These data highlights the needs for more concerted interventions targeting both prescribers and public. Improvement strategies should focus on reducing inappropriate prescribing.
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