ArticleAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland)2019
Antibiotic Prescribing by Informal Healthcare Providers for Common Illnesses: A Repeated Cross-Sectional Study in Rural India.
Article in Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland), 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 49 citations in OpenAlex.
- Medication safety in older adults in India: an integrative PhD synthesis of direct evidence and contextual implementation evidence.Global health action · 2026Pooled it
- Antibiotic dispensing practices and determinants among informal healthcare providers in low- and middle-income countries: a mixed-methods scoping review.BMJ global health · 2026Article
- Impact of WHO AWaRe Antibiotic Handbook training on antibiotics prescribing knowledge among private primary care providers: a vignette-based, prep-post pilot study in Patna, India.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2026Article
- Psychometric Validation of the Community Antimicrobial Use Scale (CAMUS) in Primary Healthcare and the Implications for Future Use.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Strengthening TB care pathways: Integrating informal and AYUSH practitioners for early diagnosis and referral.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- The effectiveness of Ghana's antibiotic control policy framework: an analysis using the Anderson governance framework.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2026Article
- 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
- Review
- Exploring current and potential roles of informal healthcare providers in tuberculosis care in West Bengal, India: A qualitative content analysis.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Antibiotic stewardship through clinical data digitization: perceived opportunities and obstructions by medical doctors from semi-urban setting in central India.Frontiers in digital health · 2025Article
- Walking a tightrope: perspectives of non-degree allopathic providers (NDAPs) on providing diabetes and hypertension care in urban informal settlements of Mumbai Metropolitan Region.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Article
- Unlocking the potential of informal healthcare providers in tuberculosis care: insights from India.BMJ global health · 2024Article
- Article
- RETRACTED: Empowering Low- and Middle-Income Countries to Combat AMR by Minimal Use of Antibiotics: A Way Forward.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Effect of knowledge of informal poultry drug prescribers on their attitude and practice toward antimicrobial use, residues, and resistance in Bangladesh.Veterinary world · 2023Article
- Barriers and facilitators to informal healthcare provider engagement in the national tuberculosis elimination program of India: An exploratory study from West Bengal.PLOS global public health · 2023Article
- Antibiotic Use before, during, and after Seeking Care for Acute Febrile Illness at a Hospital Outpatient Department: A Cross-Sectional Study from Rural India.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Availability, Prices and Affordability of Antibiotics Stocked by Informal Providers in Rural India: A Cross-Sectional Survey.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Understanding Internal and External Drivers Influencing the Prescribing Behaviour of Informal Healthcare Providers with Emphasis on Antibiotics in Rural India: A Qualitative Study.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Informal healthcare providers (IHCPs) are predominant healthcare providers in rural India, who prescribe without formal training. Antibiotic prescription by IHCPs could provide crucial information for controlling antibiotic resistance. The aim of this study is to determine the practices and seasonal changes in antibiotic prescribing for common illnesses by IHCPs. A repeated cross-sectional study was conducted over 18 months, covering different seasons in the rural demographic surveillance site, at Ujjain, India. Prescriptions given to outpatients by 12 IHCPs were collected. In total, 15,322 prescriptions for 323 different complaint combinations were analyzed, of which 11,336 (74%) included antibiotics. The results showed that 14,620 (95%) of antibiotics prescribed were broad spectrum and the most commonly prescribed were fluoroquinolones (4771,31%), followed by penicillin with an extended spectrum (4119,27%) and third-generation cephalosporin (3069,20%). Antibiotics were prescribed more frequently in oral and dental problems (1126,88%), fever (3569,87%), and upper respiratory tract infections (3273, 81%); more during the monsoon season (2350,76%); and more frequently to children (3340,81%) than to adults (7996,71%). The study concludes that antibiotics were the more commonly prescribed drugs compared to other medications for common illnesses, most of which are broad-spectrum antibiotics, a situation that warrants further investigations followed by immediate and coordinated efforts to reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions by IHCPs.
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