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[Compliance with antibiotic treatment in nonhospitalized children]
E Ramalle-Gómara1, R Bermejo-Ascorbe, R Alonso Marín
1Servicio de Epidemiología y Promoción de la Salud, Logroño, La Rioja. enrique.ramalle@larioja.org
Insights
Antibiotic treatment compliance in children is low, with only 55.7% of children taking medication as prescribed. Factors like dosing intervals and nursery attendance influenced adherence to antibiotic therapy.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric infectious diseases
- Pharmacology
- Public health
Context:
- Antibiotic resistance is a growing global concern.
- Ensuring adherence to prescribed antibiotic regimens is crucial for effective treatment and preventing resistance.
- Pediatric populations present unique challenges in medication adherence.
Purpose:
- To assess the level of antibiotic treatment compliance among children treated as outpatients.
- To identify factors associated with antibiotic treatment compliance in this pediatric group.
Summary:
- A prevalence study in La Rioja primary care centers surveyed 384 children (0-10 years) regarding antibiotic compliance using the Morisky-Green test.
- Overall satisfactory compliance was 55.7%.
- Higher compliance was observed with 12-hour dosing intervals compared to 8-hour intervals and in children attending nursery versus school.
Impact:
- Findings highlight suboptimal antibiotic compliance in children, indicating a need for improved adherence strategies.
- Understanding factors influencing compliance can inform interventions to optimize pediatric antibiotic use.
- Low compliance rates may contribute to treatment failure and the development of antibiotic resistance.
Objective:
To evaluate compliance with antibiotic treatment in children and to determine the factors that may be associated with compliance with antibiotic treatment in children not in hospital.
Design:
Prevalence study.
Setting:
La Rioja primary care centres.
Patients And Other Participants:
384 children from 0 to 10, not in hospital, who needed antibiotic treatment between October 1998 and January 1999.
Measurements And Main Results:
Antibiotic compliance was measured with the Morisky-Green test through a phone survey of the parents ten days after the treatment was prescribed. The number of children who complied satisfactorily with the prescribed treatment was 214 (55.7%; 95% CI, 50.6-60.7). Correct compliance was more common in children with 12-hour rather than 8-hour intervals (OR: 1.87; CI OR, 1.23-2.85), and in children who went to nursery rather than children at school (OR: 1.77; CI OR, 1.08-2.91).
Conclusions:
Correct compliance in the study was low. Approximately half the children prescribed an antibiotic treatment at two or three doses a day took it as the paediatrician had indicated.