Evaluation of Prescription Practices of Antibiotics in Respiratory Tract Infections at Al-Ahrar Teaching Hospital in 2019

Abstract

Background: Antibiotics are prescribed at more than 100 million adult ambulatory care visits annually, and 41% of these prescriptions are for respiratory conditions. Inappropriate antibiotic use for RTI is an important contributor to antibiotic resistance and an urgent public health threat . Objective:The aim of this work is to evaluate the prescription practices of antibiotics in respiratory tract infections at Al-Ahrar Teaching Hospital in the period between March 2019 and October 2019. Patients and Methods: One hundred and twenty five patients with respiratory tract infection admitted at at Al Ahrar Teaching Hospital and twenty five physicians working at the same hospital were included in the study. Patients were subjected to medical history and clinical examination. Laboratory investigation included ( total leucocytic count & urea ). Plain chest x-ray and Computed Tomograghy of chest, if needed,were done. Results: The most frequent antibiotic prescribed empirically was broad spectrum penicillin (76%). Fifty six percent of physicians prescribed empirical antibiotic for 4 – 6 days. Sixty percent of them depended on international guidelines in prescription and the same percentage reported that prescription was based on combination of clinical, laboratory and radiological findings Conclusion: Ninty two percent of the studied physicians reported empirical prescription of antibiotics.The most frequent antibiotic prescribed empirically was broad spectrum penicillin.Sixty percent of studied physicians depended on international guidelines in prescription of antibiotics