Evaluation of Parental Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Regarding Antibiotic Use in Acute Upper Respiratory Tract Infections in Children in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Turkey

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aslınur Albayrak ◽  
Nazmi Mutlu Karakaş ◽  
Bensu Karahalil
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Respiratory Tract ◽  
Respiratory Tract Infections ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Antibiotic Use ◽  
Upper Respiratory Tract Infections ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
Upper Respiratory Tract ◽  
Upper Respiratory ◽  
Tract Infections

Abstract BackgroundUpper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) are common in children. Most URTIs have been shown to be of viral origin. Inappropriate use of antibiotics is one of the main causes of antibiotic resistance. The problem of unnecessary antibiotic use among children is a concern for antibiotic resistance in low- and middle-income developing countries.MethodsOur study is a cross-sectional survey study. It was carried out between 14 December 2020 and 1 April 2021 for parents over 18 years of age with a child under 18 years’ old who applied to the general pediatrics outpatient clinics of Gazi University Faculty of Medicine Hospital Department of Pediatrics.Results554 parents responded to the questionnaire. A total of 15.7% of parents stated to use antibiotics in any child with fever. 37% of parents believed that antibiotics could cure infections caused by viruses. 6.3% of parents declared that they put pressure on pediatricians to prescribe antibiotics. 85.6% of the parents stated that they never gave their children non-prescription antibiotics when they had a high fever. 80.9% of them declared that they never used past antibiotics in the presence of a new infection. Female gender, high level of education, high income level and low number of antibiotics used in the last 1 year were found to be statistically significant with the better knowledge level of the parents (p <0.05).ConclusionAccording to the results of our study of parents' lack of knowledge about antibiotics in Turkey, though generally it shows proper attitude and behavior. It shows that some of the restrictions imposed by the National Action Plan are partially working. However, it is still necessary to continue to inform parents, pediatricians and pharmacists about the use of antibiotics, and to be more sensitive about the prescribing of antibiotics, and if necessary, sanctions should be imposed by the state in order to prevent unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions.

scholarly journals Evaluation of parental knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding antibiotic use in acute upper respiratory tract infections in children under 18 years of age: a cross-sectional study in Turkey

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aslınur Albayrak ◽  
Nazmi Mutlu Karakaş ◽  
Bensu Karahalil
Keyword(s):  
Antibiotic Resistance ◽  
Respiratory Tract ◽  
Respiratory Tract Infections ◽  
Antibiotic Use ◽  
Upper Respiratory Tract Infections ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
Upper Respiratory Tract ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Upper Respiratory ◽  
Tract Infections

Abstract Background Upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) are common in children. Antibiotics still continue to be prescribed although most URTIs are of viral origin. This is inappropriate use and this unnecessary administration contributes or may cause antibiotic resistance. The problem of unnecessary antibiotic use among children is a concern for antibiotic resistance in low- and middle-income developing countries. This study aims to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of parents of children with upper respiratory tract infections regarding antibiotic use and their antibiotic administration practices in a tertiary care hospital in Turkey. Methods Our study is a cross-sectional survey study. It was carried out between 14 December 2020 and 1 April 2021 for parents over 18 years of age with a child under 18 years’ old who applied to the general pediatrics outpatient clinics of Gazi University Faculty of Medicine Hospital Department of Pediatrics. Results Five hundred fifty-four parents responded to the questionnaire (93.2% rate of response). A total of 15.7% of parents stated to use antibiotics in any child with fever. 37% of parents believed that antibiotics could cure infections caused by viruses. 6.3% of parents declared that they put pressure on pediatricians to prescribe antibiotics. While 28% of the parents who thought that the use of inappropriate antibiotics would not change the effect and resistance of the treatment, 41% thought that new antibiotics could be developed continuously. 85.6% of the parents stated that they never gave their children non-prescription antibiotics when they had a high fever. 80.9% of them declared that they never used past antibiotics in the presence of a new infection. Conclusion According to the results of our study of parents’ lack of knowledge about antibiotics in Turkey, though generally it shows proper attitude and practices. It shows that some of the restrictions imposed by the National Action Plan are partially working. However, it is still necessary to continue to inform parents, pediatricians and pharmacists about the use of antibiotics, and to be more sensitive about the prescribing of antibiotics, and if necessary, sanctions should be imposed by the state in order to prevent unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions.

scholarly journals Prescribing pattern of antibiotics and susceptibility of pathogens in upper respiratory tract infections: a study from a tertiary care hospital

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 1221
Author(s):  
Sashwath Srikanth ◽  
Satyajit Mohapatra ◽  
P. Tharunya ◽  
R. Jamuna Rani
Keyword(s):  
Respiratory Tract ◽  
Respiratory Tract Infections ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Upper Respiratory Tract Infections ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
Upper Respiratory Tract ◽  
Essential Drug List ◽  
Drug List ◽  
Upper Respiratory ◽  
Tract Infections

Background: Upper respiratory tract infections are mostly caused by viruses and are self-limiting. But it is seen that drug therapy is restored to many of them without adequate justifications. Sometimes multiple drug therapy imposes high cost burden on patients. Use of antibiotics in URTI patients have led to rise in bacterial resistance. So, this study was aimed to analyse the prescription pattern in upper respiratory tract infections and the antibiotic susceptibility of the isolated organisms.Methods: An observational cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital for a period of three months. Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria sixty patients were selected. Prescriptions of these patients were collected and analysed for the various WHO prescription indicators like average number of drugs per encounter, percentage of drugs prescribed by generic names, percentage of drugs prescribed as injection, drugs form the essential drug list etc. The swabs were collected from the site of infections and were analysed for the bacterial growth. Also, the antibiotic susceptibility of these organisms was tested.Results: A total of sixty prescriptions were collected and analysed. The average number of drugs per prescription was 2.21. Antimicrobials were prescribed in 90% of cases. Approximately 50% cases the combination of amoxicillin and clavulanic acid was prescribed. The percentage of drugs prescribed by generic names was 87% and 68% drugs were form the essential drug list. The culture report of the specimen collected from the swabs showed that only 50% of cases were of some bacterial origin. And the organisms isolated were less susceptible to the antibiotics that were prescribed.Conclusions: This study of prescribing patterns in patients gives appropriate feedback and awareness among health care providers. Rationale prescribing practice will prevent antibiotic resistance and reduction in the adverse drug reactions. 

The effect of probiotics on prevention of upper respiratory tract infections in the paediatric community – a systematic review

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 201-211
Author(s):  
İ.E. Emre ◽  
Y. Eroğlu ◽  
A. Kara ◽  
E.C. Dinleyici ◽  
M. Özen
Keyword(s):  
Respiratory Tract ◽  
Respiratory Tract Infections ◽  
Data Extraction ◽  
Antibiotic Use ◽  
Paediatric Population ◽  
Upper Respiratory Tract Infections ◽  
Upper Respiratory Tract ◽  
Upper Respiratory ◽  
Randomised Controlled ◽  
Tract Infections

Prevention of acute upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) is becoming an increasingly important concept in public health application due to the increase in antibiotic resistance. Probiotics have been shown to have some effect on prevention in various reviews. In this study we aimed to re-asses the effect of probiotics as there has been a substantial increase in literature regarding the effects and safety of probiotics in the paediatric population. Two major databases were systematically searched to identify clinical trials eligible for inclusion. Study selection, data extraction and quality assessment were carried out by two reviewers. This review comprises 33 randomised controlled trials (RCTs) applied to a paediatric population with high-quality methodology. The primary outcome for this review was the incidence of respiratory tract infections. Secondary outcomes were severity of symptoms, missed days of school, incidence of antibiotic use and safety of prebiotic use. This review showed that probiotics have an impact on decreasing the incidence of URTIs and the severity of symptoms. The use of probiotics is extremely safe and as studies increase in evaluation of the effect of probiotics more and more show a significant beneficiary effect. Although still a long way from becoming a unanimous treatment modality, the small positive changes that probiotics have on URTIs is important to consider and the use of probiotics should be encouraged more.

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