Self-medication with Antibiotic in Children in Sana'a City, Yemen

To study the prevalence of self- medication with antibiotic in children presented to the outpatient department at Sam hospital, Sana'a city Yemen.

This is a descriptive study conducted in the outpatient department of Sam hospital Sana'a city Yemen, during a five months period from Dec 2007 to Apr 2008. 2000 patients (1110 males and 890 females) were seen for different causes during that period. All patients were asked if they used antibiotics in the last 15 days without medical prescription, what type of antibiotic, why and how they obtained it. The age and sex of the patients were also recorded.

The age group of the patients ranged from 0-15 years. Of the 2000 patients interviewed, 1200(60%) had taken an antibiotic in the last 15 days without a medical prescription. Respiratory (80%) and gastrointestinal (13%) symptoms were most frequently reported. 312(26%) patients used the previous prescription paper to obtain antibiotics, while 888(74%) obtained antibiotics from pharmacies and drug stores without any prescription required. Amoxicillin, Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid accounted for (85%) of the prescribed antibiotics.

The prevalence of self-medication with antibiotics in children in Yemen is alarmingly high. A majority of the patients had respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms and the common prescribed antibiotics were amoxicillin, Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid. Most of the antibiotics were obtained from pharmacies and drug stores without the requirement of a prescription. Therefore, intervention from health authorities is needed to urgently stop this practice.