Study of Antibiotics Prescribing Pattern in Paediatric Patients of ThamarProvince, in Republic of Yemen

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the prescriptions pattern of antibiotic in paediatric in-patient department of General Thamar Hospital in Yemen. The method was prospective and observational study which was carried out for 2 months duration between March- April 2015. Patient’s data was being recorded in a specific format and results were analysed by descriptive statistic and expressed as mean ± SD. The result was out of 148 patients, 95 prescriptions were taken antibiotics, where 59 were male child and 36 were female child. The mean age of patient on antibiotic was 1.49 ± 2.12 years. The total antibiotics were prescribed to the patients was 194 and the average number of antibiotics per prescription was 2.04 ± 0.55. The most prevalent diseases among studied patients was bronchitis (27.4%) followed by asthma (15.8%), and lower respiratory tract infection (9.5%). Cephalosporin (51.5%) was found to be widely prescribed antibiotic followed by penicillin (25.3), aminoglycosides (13.4), metronidazole (5.7%), vancomycin (2.6%), and azithromycin. The most of the antibiotics were administered for inpatients 183 (94.3%) prescribed parenteral, and 11 (5.7%) prescribed oral. The conclusion of study was Ceftriaxone and penicillin was identified to be the most prescribed medications in the General Thamar hospital. The selection of antibiotic should be based on culture and sensitivity test to avoid the development of bacterial resistance; however prescription of antibiotic should be done in accordance with WHO guidelines and rational strategies.