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Oral and topical antibiotic prescriptions for children in general practice

Eefje G P M de Bont1, Inge H M van Loo, Nicole H T M Dukers-Muijrers

  • 1Department of General Practice, Maastricht University, PO Box 616, Maastricht 6200 MD, The Netherlands. eefje.debont@maastrichtuniversity.nl

Archives of Disease in Childhood
|December 27, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Antibiotic prescriptions for children increased from 2000-2005, then decreased significantly by 2010. These trends in oral antibiotic use may be linked to the 2006 pneumococcal vaccination campaign.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • General Practice
  • Infectious Diseases

Background:

  • Clinical guidelines advocate for judicious antibiotic use in pediatric infections.
  • Understanding antibiotic prescribing patterns in children is crucial for public health.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze trends in oral and topical antibiotic prescription rates for children aged 12 years and younger between 2000 and 2010.
  • To identify factors influencing antibiotic prescribing in this pediatric population.

Main Methods:

  • A longitudinal observational study using a large Dutch general practice database.
  • Analysis of 108,555 patient-years from 2000 to 2010.
  • Examined annual prescription rates and influencing factors for oral and topical antibiotics.

Main Results:

  • Approximately 14.8% of patient-years involved at least one antibiotic prescription.
  • Oral antibiotic prescriptions rose by 4.9% (2000-2005) then fell by 3.3% (2006-2010).
  • Topical antibiotic prescriptions increased by 1.8% (2000-2005) and remained stable thereafter.

Conclusions:

  • One in six children received an oral antibiotic annually from 2000-2010.
  • Shifts in oral antibiotic prescribing patterns correlated with the 2006 introduction of the Dutch pneumococcal vaccination campaign.
  • Topical antibiotic use showed a steady increase followed by stabilization.
Abstract

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