INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to find out about the patterns of antibiotic use in the municipality of Sorocaba, through evaluating the reported diagnosis and the therapy used. METHODS: An evaluation tool was applied among antibiotic users over a 12-month period. Sociodemographic data and information relating to health, diagnosis and therapeutics were gathered in relation to 403 users. RESULTS: Great present use and the greatest previous use was found in the 0-10 year-old age group (p 0.05). Infections with lung involvement were the ones most mentioned (p 0.05) and penicillins were the drugs most used, present in 45.1% of the prescriptions. The mean duration of therapy for otitis (8.9 days) was below the recommendation. For sinusitis, 22% of the prescriptions did not give guidance regarding recommended use (10 days). CONCLUSIONS: The lack and/or nonuse of therapeutic protocols resulted in great differences in prescription patterns, thereby leading to therapeutic failure and recurrence of infections, which were situations frequently found in this study.
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