ArticleInfection and drug resistance2018
Antibiotic prescriptions to adults with acute respiratory tract infections by Italian general practitioners.
Article in Infection and drug resistance, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Antimicrobial prescription pattern and appropriateness for respiratory tract infection in outpatients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Early-career general practitioners' antibiotic prescribing for acute infections: a systematic review.The Journal of antimicrobial chemotherapy · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Global under- and overprescribing of drugs-a scoping review.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2026Review
- Distribution and Determinants of Antibiotic Self-Medication: A Cross-Sectional Study in Chinese Residents.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- "Know your medicines, know your health"-public perspectives on medicines and health awareness campaigns.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- A complex intervention to reduce antibiotic prescribing in rural China: a cluster randomised controlled trial.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2024Article
- Article
- C-reactive protein point-of-care testing in primary care-broader implementation needed to combat antimicrobial resistance.Frontiers in public health · 2024Review
- Understanding patient demand for and use of antibiotics for upper respiratory tract infection: A qualitative application of the Necessity-Concerns Framework in Saudi Arabia.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Article
- Prevalence of Colonization with Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria: Results of a 5-Year Active Surveillance in Patients Attending a Teaching Hospital.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- The impacts of knowledge and attitude on behavior of antibiotic use for the common cold among the public and identifying the critical behavioral stage: based on an expanding KAP model.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Current and Future Flow Cytometry Applications Contributing to Antimicrobial Resistance Control.Microorganisms · 2023Review
- Antimicrobial Prescribing Practices in Hospital Settings in Italy: A Retrospective Study.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Trends and Patterns of Antibiotic Prescriptions in Primary Care Institutions in Southwest China, 2017-2022.Infection and drug resistance · 2023Article
- The public's antibiotic use behavioural patterns and their determinants for upper respiratory tract infections: a latent class analysis based on consumer behaviour model in China.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Study of the indications for macrolide prescriptions in a Colombian populationBiomedica : revista del Instituto Nacional de Salud · 2022Article
- Analysis of medicines returned to pharmacies for disposal and estimation of the cost due to medicine wasting.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2022Article
- Antibiotic-prescribing pattern in the outpatient departments using the WHO prescribing indicators and AWaRe assessment tool in a tertiary-care hospital in South India.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2022Article
- Pattern and Appropriateness of Antimicrobial Prescriptions for Upper Respiratory Tract and Dental Infections in Male Prisoners in Italy.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThe overuse, misuse, and underuse of antimicrobial agents often lead to the spread of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms. The aim of our study was to describe the pattern of antibiotic prescriptions for acute respiratory tract infections (RTIs) among the adult population and the factors associated with antibiotic prescribing. PATIENTS AND
methodsThe study involved patients who visited a general practitioner with suspected acute RTI. Patients with diagnosis of acute sinusitis, acute pharyngitis, acute bronchitis, and influenza were included in the study. We evaluated the presence of an indication for antibiotic therapy for selected diseases according to international guidelines. The appropriateness of any prescribed molecule was also evaluated.
resultsA total of 1,979 cases of acute RTIs were included: 1,196 (60.4%) pharyngitis, 359 (18.2%) bronchitis, 234 (11.8%) influenza, and 190 (9.6%) sinusitis. An antibiotic prescription was given in 67.3% of the consultations and was not indicated by the guidelines in 66.5% of the total RTIs. Macrolides were the most frequently prescribed antibiotics accounting for 32.5% of all those prescribed, followed by amoxicillin with clavulanic acid (31.1%) and fluoroquinolones (14.2%). The highest overprescription was associated with pharyngitis (65.9%) and the lowest with influenza (4.9%). A throat swab was performed only in 11 of all the patients with a diagnosis of acute pharyngitis.
conclusionThe present study showed a very high frequency of nonevidence-based prescription of antibiotics at the primary care level. Future improvement programs should focus on development of evidence-based guidelines, access to postgraduate training, and better availability of diagnostic tools.
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