Indication-prescription study for the management of conjunctivitis in a Colombian population

Conjunctivitis is one of the most common ocular pathologies. Its treatment depends on its etiology, but an excessive use of antibiotics and corticosteroids, which in many cases are contraindicated, has been described. The objective was to describe the prescription patterns of medications used to treat conjunctivitis in a Colombian population.

This was a cross-sectional study on the pharmacological treatment of patients diagnosed with conjunctivitis between April 1, 2020, and March 31, 2021; based on a drug-dispensing database of approximately 8.5 million people affiliated with the Colombian Health System. Some sociodemographic and pharmacological variables and comorbidities were considered. A descriptive analysis was performed.

A total of 8708 patients were identified; they had a median age of 44.7 years, and 59.3% were women. The most common causes of conjunctivitis were unspecified (53.1%) and allergic (37.4%). The most commonly used drug was olopatadine (26.1%), followed by dexamethasone with neomycin and polymyxin B (25.0%). A total of 97.0% of the patients received ophthalmic prescriptions, while 12.8% received systemic medications. Glucocorticoids (40.3%), antibiotics (37.7%) and antihistamines (31.7%) were the most commonly used groups of ophthalmic drugs. Glucocorticoids and ophthalmic antibiotics were the medications most frequently prescribed by general practitioners for the treatment of viral or bacterial conjunctivitis.

Many patients with conjunctivitis are not being managed according to the recommendations of clinical practice guidelines, which highlights that the widespread use of antibiotics with ophthalmic glucocorticoids could be considered potentially inappropriate prescriptions in many cases.