Abstract
Objective Antibiotics misuse and a high level of antibiotics resistance is observed worldwide, but particularly in developing countries. Kosovo in the last decade is facing challenges regarding antimicrobial resistance. The purpose of the present study was to investigate patterns of antibiotics prescriptions of dentists in Kosovo's major dental clinics. Materials and Methods For Kosovo's prescribing pattern, data collection was obtained from 10 Regional Dental Clinics and a Tertiary Health Center regarding patients who were prescribed antibiotics in the years 2015 to 2019. Data analysis was performed by using descriptive statistics and was processed by using MS Excel. Results Most prescribed antibiotic during the observed period from 2015 to 2019 in Kosovo was amoxicillin, although a drastic increase of amoxicillin with clavulanic acid—as a broad-spectrum antibiotic—is observed. The trend of antibiotics use in tertiary health institutions is in an overall decrease in Kosovo with an exception in the year 2017. Despite this overall decrease, inconsistency in prescribing is observed when the pattern is analyzed for each region separately. The highest number of patients in health care dental clinics received antibiotics for maxilla-related health conditions and the lowest number of them for oncologic ones. Conclusion The patterns of antibiotics prescriptions by dental practitioners in Kosovo during the years 2015 to 2019 are fluctuating. Compared with the global health care standards, the irrational use of antibiotics in dental health care clinics in Kosovo still exist and this issue should be further addressed by respective actors.
Highlights
Antibiotics are a precious medicine for the treatment of spreading bacterial dental infections
Compared with the global health care standards, the irrational use of antibiotics in dental health care clinics in Kosovo still exist and this issue should be further addressed by respective actors
The purpose of the present study is to investigate patterns of antibiotics prescription of dentists in Kosovo’s major dental clinics
Summary
Antibiotics are a precious medicine for the treatment of spreading bacterial dental infections. The appropriate prescription of antibiotics has become a challenge in most health care systems because different studies have reported that antibiotics are often irrationally overprescribed, which form the basis of antimicrobial resistance.[1] The extensive utilization of antibiotics in clinical practice has been determined to be a leading factor for the emergence of antibiotic. A country located in Southeast Europe with a population of 1.7 million inhabitants, is facing some challenges regarding antimicrobial resistance such as limited financial and human resources, over-the-counter sale of antibiotics, and scarcity of clinical guidelines authorized by the Ministry of Health.[3] Kosovo is two to five times higher for the majority resistance of bacteria and corresponding antibiotics groups compared with the means in European countries.[4]
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