ArticleAntimicrobial resistance and infection control2021
Tanzanian primary healthcare workers' experiences of antibiotic prescription and understanding of antibiotic resistance in common childhood infections: a qualitative phenomenographic study.
Article in Antimicrobial resistance and infection control, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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14 citing papers in PubMed.
- Urine bioassay optimisation to assess the association between antimicrobial exposure, pneumococcal carriage and antimicrobial resistance among hospitalised children in Malawi.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Healthcare workers´ perspectives on antibiotic utilization in children under five years of age in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2025Article
- Article
- Knowledge, Attitudes, Motivations, Expectations, and Systemic Factors Regarding Antimicrobial Use Amongst Community Members Seeking Care at the Primary Healthcare Level: A Scoping Review.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Behavioral and Socio-Economic Determinants of Antimicrobial Resistance in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review.Infection and drug resistance · 2025Review
- Prescribing patterns of antimicrobials according to the WHO AWaRe classification at a tertiary referral hospital in the southern highlands of Tanzania.Infection prevention in practice · 2024Article
- A Narrative Review of Recent Antibiotic Prescribing Practices in Ambulatory Care in Tanzania: Findings and Implications.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Review
- Education and Awareness on Antimicrobial Resistance in the WHO African Region: A Systematic Review.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Antibiotic dispensing practices during COVID-19 and implications for antimicrobial resistance (AMR): parallel mystery client studies in Uganda and Tanzania.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2023Article
- Antibiotic use in children under 5 years of age in Northern Tanzania: a qualitative study exploring the experiences of the caring mothers.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2022Article
- "I don't hesitate to use the left-over antibiotics for my child" practices and experiences with antibiotic use among caregivers of paediatric patients at Zomba central hospital in Malawi.BMC pediatrics · 2022Article
- Prevalence and Predictors of Antibiotic Prescriptions at Primary Healthcare Facilities in the Dodoma Region, Central Tanzania: A Retrospective, Cross-Sectional Study.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Drivers of irrational use of antibiotics among children: a mixed-method study among prescribers and dispensers in Tanzania.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- Numbers and narratives: how qualitative methods can strengthen the science of paediatric antimicrobial stewardship.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2022Review
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10 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAntibiotic resistance is a threat to global child health. Primary healthcare workers play a key role in antibiotic stewardship in the community, but few studies in low-income countries have described their experiences of initiating antibiotic treatment in children. Thus, the present study aimed to describe primary healthcare workers' experiences of antibiotic prescription for children under 5 years of age and their conceptions of antibiotic resistance in Northern Tanzania.
methodsA qualitative study involving individual in-depth interviews with 20 prescribing primary healthcare workers in Moshi urban and rural districts, Northern Tanzania, was performed in 2019. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, translated from Kiswahili into English and analysed according to the phenomenographic approach.
findingsFour conceptual themes emerged during the analysis; conceptions in relation to the prescriber, the mother and child, other healthcare actors and in relation to outcome. The healthcare workers relied mainly on clinical examination and medical history provided by the mother to determine the need for antibiotics. Confidence in giving advice concerning non-antibiotic treatment varied among the participants and expectations of antibiotic treatment were perceived to be common among the mothers. Antibiotic resistance was mainly perceived as a problem for the individual patient who was misusing the antibiotics.
conclusionsTo increase rational antibiotic prescription, an awareness needs to be raised among Tanzanian primary healthcare workers of the threat of antibiotic resistance, not only to a few individuals, but to public health. Guidelines on childhood illnesses should be updated with advice concerning symptomatic treatment when antibiotics are not necessary, to support rational prescribing practices and promote trust in the clinician and mother relationship.
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