Observational studyBMJ open2025
10-year diagnosis-specific antibiotic prescribing trends among paediatric inpatients at two private-sector hospitals in central India: a prospective observational study.
Observational study in BMJ open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
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.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo analyse, compare and present the 10-year diagnosis-specific antibiotic prescribing trends for paediatric inpatients at a non-teaching hospital (NTH) and a teaching hospital (TH) in India. DESIGN AND
settingA prospective, observational study of antibiotic prescriptions in paediatric departments of two private-sector hospitals in central India. Inpatients were grouped into clinically confirmed infections, suspected infections and no infections. OUTCOMES: Patients in the NTH and TH and duration of antibiotic prescription, the ratio of prescribed daily dose and defined daily dose i.e. PDD* per 100 bed days, diagnosis-specific patterns and trends, adherence to the Access, Watch and Reserve (AWaRe) classification and prescribing guidelines with significant p value<0.05.
resultsOf 19 027, 17 458 inpatients aged less than 18 years stayed at least one night (NTH: 11 415 and TH: 6043). More patients were prescribed antibiotics in the NTH than in the TH (NTH: 80%, TH: 23%, p<0.001) and had shorter antibiotic treatment (NTH: 3 days, TH: 5 days, p<0.001). In the NTH, 43% of prescribed antibiotics were 'Not recommended'; in the TH, 56% were from the 'Watch' group (AWaRe). Ceftriaxone with a beta-lactamase inhibitor ('Not recommended', 39%) was most prescribed in the NTH, and ceftriaxone ('Watch', 31%) in the TH.The reduction in the prescription rates of the most prescribed antibiotic classes for PDD*/100 bed days was observed over 10 years, for infectious acute gastroenteritis, typhoid fever and lung infections, especially in the NTH. For hernia patients, the antibiotic prescribing trend of third-generation cephalosporins increased significantly (β=0.13, p=0.02) while decreased for second-generation cephalosporins (β=0.002, p=0.01). The trends decreased in both hospitals for the most common confirmed infections over 10 years.
conclusionThis decadal study observes the practices of overuse of antibiotics in both hospitals yet more in the NTH. High prescribing rates of the 'Not recommended' and 'Watch' warrant understanding the underlying reasons for targeted interventions. Nonetheless, a significant overtime decrease in prescribing antibiotics for infectious diagnosis indicates the potential for the success of antibiotic stewardship in the future.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.