ArticleBMC pharmacology & toxicology2018
"Appropriateness and adequacy of antibiotic prescription for upper respiratory tract infections in ambulatory health care centers in Ecuador".
Article in BMC pharmacology & toxicology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Antimicrobial prescription pattern and appropriateness for respiratory tract infection in outpatients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Systematic reviews · 2024Pooled 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
- Systematic review of patient-oriented interventions to reduce unnecessary use of antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infections.Systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Inventory of Survey Instruments for Monitoring Antimicrobial Use in Primary Care Settings in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Narrative Review.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Pattern and appropriateness of antimicrobial prescription for acute respiratory tract infection in primary healthcare settings in Ethiopia.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2025Article
- Knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial stewardship among healthcare workers in outpatient medical centers in Kenya: a qualitative study.Antimicrobial stewardship & healthcare epidemiology : ASHE · 2025Article
- Exploring Nanotechnology as a Strategy to Circumvent Antimicrobial Resistance in Bone and Joint Infections.ACS omega · 2023Review
- Trends and Patterns of Antibiotic Prescriptions in Primary Care Institutions in Southwest China, 2017-2022.Infection and drug resistance · 2023Article
- Antibiotic prescription patterns in patients with suspected urinary tract infections in Ecuador.PloS one · 2023Article
- Study of the indications for macrolide prescriptions in a Colombian populationBiomedica : revista del Instituto Nacional de Salud · 2022Article
- Prescribing practices for presumptive TB among private general practitioners in South Africa: a cross-sectional, standardised patient study.BMJ global health · 2022Article
- Antimicrobial Resistance inAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Article
- Oral prednisolone for acute otitis media in children: a pilot, pragmatic, randomised, open-label, controlled study (OPAL study).Pilot and feasibility studies · 2020Article
- Fine Particulate Air Pollution and Hospital Utilization for Upper Respiratory Tract Infections in Beijing, China.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Article
- Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices in Antibiotic Use in Family Medicine Students.Journal of primary care & community healthArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundUpper respiratory tract infections are the leading cause of misuse of antibiotics, a problem that leads to unnecessary adverse events and antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic prescription in Ecuador was analyzed in order to evaluate the state of antibiotic prescribing for upper respiratory tract infections. Both the appropriateness and adequacy of prescribing was evaluated. Appropriateness represents the percentage of prescriptions that are indicated; adequacy refers to the percentage of patients requiring antibiotics who are treated.
methodsThe aim of the study is to analyze the appropriateness and adequacy of antibiotic prescription for upper respiratory tract infections in the Ambulatory Health Centers of the Ministry of Public Health of Ecuador. This is a cross-sectional study of patients from one Health Center of the Ministry of Public Health in the District 17D03 in Ecuador during 2015 with upper respiratory tract infection as a primary diagnosis.
resultsWe included a total of 1393 patients in the analysis. Out of the 1393 patients identified, 523 were prescribed antibiotics, constituting an antibiotic prescription rate of 37.5%, and 51 required antibiotics, reflecting a real need of antibiotics of 3.7%. Appropriateness: Of these 523 patients who were treated, 51 required an antibiotic, resulting in an appropriate antibiotic prescription rate of 9.75%. Adequacy: When analyzing each individual case, 33 of these 51 patients received an antibiotic, constituting an adequate prescription rate of 64.7%.
conclusionsThe results of our study report a 90.25% of inappropriate prescription. The antibiotic prescription, appropriate prescription, and adequate prescription rates show the need for implementation of strategies in order to reduce them. Related aspects regarding prescriber's behavior and the patient's expectations should be analyzed.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.