Abstract
PTB Reports,2021,7,3,102-106.DOI:10.5530/PTB.2021.7.17Published:December 2021Type:Research ArticleAuthors:Zainab Albahooth, Yousef Ahmed Alomi, Samia Zaben Almurshadi, Hind Nasser Altamimi, and Abdulaziz Hussain Alhussain Author(s) affiliations:Zainab Albahooth, Primary Healthcare Clinical Pharmacist, Pharmaceutical Care Department, Health Affairs in Riyadh City, Ministry of Heath, Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA Yousef Ahmed Alomi*, BSc. Pharm, MSc. Clin Pharm, BCPS, BCNSP, DiBA, CDE, Critical Care Clinical Pharmacists, TPN Clinical Pharmacist, Freelancer Business Planner, Content Editor and Data Analyst, Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA. Samia Zaben Almurshadi, Primary Health Care Clinical Pharmacist, Pharmaceutical Care Department, Health Affairs in Riyadh City, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA. Hind Nasser Altamimi, Primary Health Care Quality Pharmacist, Pharmaceutical Care Department, Health Affairs in Riyadh City, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA. Abdulaziz Hussain Alhussain, Pharmacist, Pharmaceutical Care Department, Health Affairs in Riyadh City, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA. Abstract:Objectives: This study aims to identify antibiotic prescribing patterns in Riyadh’s Primary health care centers (PHCs). Methods: The study was a one-month cross-sectional medication prescription survey conducted at 25 PHCs in Riyadh. Results: A total of 18031 prescriptions were recorded in all 25 PHCs during the study period. Antibiotics were present in 3,879 (21.51%) of all prescriptions. The percentage of antibiotics prescribed varied from one primary care center to another; the highest documented percentage was 38.01 %. In comparison, the lowest proportion was discovered to be 10.56% of total antibiotics prescribed, with 3,131 (80.67 %) being bactericidal and 748 (19.3 %) being bacteriostatic. Capsules were the most commonly prescribed antibiotic dosage form 1,240 (32%), Amoxicillin was the antibiotic most frequently prescribed 1628 (42%), followed by a combination of Amoxicillin/Clavulanate 797 (20.5%). Of the total prescriptions, 2931 (75.6%) were written with generic names, while 948 (24.4%) were written with brand (trade) names. Amoxicillin was the most commonly prescribed antibiotic with a generic name (52.7%), while Amoxicillin/Clavulanate was the most usually prescribed antibiotic with the brand name “Augmentin” (69.4%). The frequency of antibiotics prescribed to patients who did not have a documented indication for Amoxicillin was 270. (6.9%). Conclusion: Antibiotics were prescribed in one-third of PHC prescriptions. Antimicrobial stewardship programs and training for healthcare professionals are needed at PHCs in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Keywords:Antibiotic, Pattern, Prescribing, Primary Health Centers, Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia.View:PDF (384.73 KB) PDF PDF Images Figure 1: The percentage of prescriptions containing antibiotics at PHCs.
Highlights
Antibiotics are drugs that are commonly used to treat bacterial infections
The patients’ mean age was 29.1 years (20.0%). 3538 (91.2%) prescriptions were for Saudi nationals, while 341 (8.9%) were for nonSaudi nationals. 265 (6.8%) of the total patients had a history of antibiotic allergy, and 50 (18.8%) of them were prescribed an alternative antibiotic, while only 1 (2%) were not
Antibiotic prescribing and use in outpatient settings decreased by 5% nationally between 2011 and 2014.40 A study in Turkey found that the proportion of antibiotic prescriptions in Primary health care centers (PHCs) settings was similar to our findings.[30]
Summary
Antibiotics are drugs that are commonly used to treat bacterial infections. The irrational use of antibiotics (IUA) has been a significant concern in most countries’ health plans.[1]. Antibiotic resistance is common in developing countries, and it is one of the causes of poor treatment outcomes and increased healthcare utilization.[3] Unnecessary antibiotic prescribing continues to be the most crucial factor in the rise of antibiotic resistance.[4,5] Unsuitable prescribing leads to treatment failure and compromises patient safety, leading to other issues such as nonadherence.[6] Recurrent infections, such as urinary tract infections, are becoming more challenging to treat due to global antimicrobial resistance, which has resulted in bacterial resistance to last-line antibiotics.[7] Primary care physicians write the majority of antibiotic prescriptions.[8] Inappropriate antibiotic prescribing is linked to several factors These factors include health care professionals’ experience, personal preference, limited knowledge, and patient pressure.[9,10] The most effective way to improve medication use in primary health care settings in developing countries is to gather health care professional education, accompanied by peer review, selfmonitoring and feedback, and supervision through programs, therapeutic committees, and antibiotic subcommittees as well as patient education in Saudi Arabia,[11] where there is legislation or restrictions on their use. Various studies discussed antibiotic prescribing in healthcare services.[18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26] That has included inpatients, intensive care, ambulatory care, and emergency departments at hospitals.[18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27]
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