Background
Overprescription of antibiotics is a
continuing problem in primary care.
This study aims to assess the antibiotic
prescribing rates and antibiotic choices
for upper respiratory tract infections
(URTI) and urinary tract infections (UTI) in
Malaysian primary care.
Discussion
Greater effort is needed to bring about
evidence based antibiotic prescribing in
Malaysian primary care, especially for
URTIs in private clinics.
Results
Analysis was performed of 1163 URTI
and 105 UTI encounters. Antibiotic
prescribing rates for URTI and UTI were
33.8% and 57.1% respectively. Antibiotic
prescribing rates were higher in private
clinics compared to public clinics for
URTI, but not for UTI. In URTI encounters,
the majority of antibiotics prescribed
were penicillins and macrolides, but
penicillin V was notably underused. In
UTI encounters, the antibiotics prescribed
were predominantly penicillins or
cotrimoxazole.
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