Abstract
To determine the prescription patterns and indications for the use of fluoroquinolones in a group of outpatients in Colombia in 2018. Observational descriptive pharmacoepidemiological study of prescription-indication type, where patients with outpatient fluoroquinolone prescriptions were included during the period from 01/05/2018 to 10/31/2018, older than 18 years of age and any sex. The information was obtained from a drug dispensing database. Sociodemographic, pharmacological (use of fluoroquinolones), and clinical variables with the indication (diagnosis ICD10) registered for the prescription were obtained. They were established if the use was approved or off-label according to the FDA. Descriptive and multivariate analyzes were performed in SPSS 25. 23373 patients were identified using fluoroquinolones, with a mean age of 47.9±18.1 years and female predominance (n=15767, 67.5%). ciprofloxacin was the most prescribed fluoroquinolone (n = 19328, 82.7%) followed by norfloxacin (n=3076, 13.2%), levofloxacin (n=573, 2.5%) and moxifloxacin (n=394; 1,7%). The main indications found were urinary tract infection, unspecified site (n=10777, 46.1%), diarrhea and gastroenteritis of presumed infectious origin (n=3077, 13.2%), acute cystitis (n=956; 4.2%). 76% (n=17759) of the prescriptions were made for indications approved by the FDA, while the remainder were being made for off-label uses or without indication as rinofaringits or soft-tissue infections. Being male (OR: 1.26, 95% CI: 1.18 - 1.34) and having less than 35 years (OR: 1.92, 95% CI: 1.48 - 1.50), were associated with greater probability of using fluoroquinolones in unapproved indications. The prescription of fluoroquinolones is carried out in Colombia mainly in indications approved as urinary tract infections and mostly with ciprofloxacin. However, safety alerts with this group of medicines make it important to guarantee their use only in approved indications.
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