Antibiotic prescribing for upper respiratory infections among children in rural China: a cross-sectional study of outpatient prescriptions

摘要

Background: Overuse of antibiotics contributes to the development of antimicrobial resistance.Objective: This study aims to assess the condition of antibiotic use at health facilities at county, township and village levels in rural Guangxi, China.Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of outpatient antibiotic prescriptions in 2014 for children aged 2–14?years with upper respiratory infections (URI). Twenty health facilities were randomly selected, including four county hospitals, eight township hospitals and eight village clinics. Prescriptions were extracted from the electronic records in the county hospitals and paper copies in the township hospitals and village clinics.Results: The antibiotic prescription rate was higher in township hospitals (593/877, 68%) compared to county hospitals (2736/8166, 34%) and village clinics (96/297, 32%) (p??0.001). Among prescriptions containing antibiotics, county hospitals were found to have the highest use rate of broad-spectrum antibiotics (82 vs 57%...